By lunchtime, Emerald had managed to fully regain her composure. Yes, it had been a strange, humiliating, and oddly erotic morning, but it was probably just a blip. She’d just had an unusual reaction to the enthralment hex because it was her first time experiencing it. Yes, that must be it.

She wondered if she might eventually believe that.

Regardless, it was done now. As were her lessons for the day - she only had two this morning, with the remaining class periods that afternoon instead being given over to independent study time. Normally, she couldn’t wait to be alone with her thoughts in the library, or in her dorm’s common room. Today, she worried that more time by herself would lead her further down the mental rabbit hole that had brought about the morning’s impromptu masturbation session.

She chose a circuitous route to the dining hall, hoping to avoid anyone who had been in Professor Finn’s class. She was disappointed, to say the least, to be met by the sight of Livi, dressed in her PE gear and accompanied by Georgie and Jemma, her two best friends - although ‘henchmen’ would be a better term. Before Emerald could slip away back down the corridor, the girls spotted her.

“Emmie!” Livi cackled, reaching her in three swift strides. “Thought I could feel your weak-ass aura.”

Emerald tried to dart past her, but the other two girls were blocking her path. Livi stepped behind her, leaving her surrounded.

“You should’ve seen her this morning,” she sniggered. “Little Emmie finally found her role in life. She’s only ever had any value as a test dummy - and this morning she did it without complaint! Bet that must have made it easier, huh?” Livi prodded Emerald in the shoulder, making the smaller girl wince. “You probably liked it, didn’t you? Not having to waste any energy on whining, or feeling embarrassed - just having your free will taken away, so we could do whatever we wanted with you...”

Emerald blushed and swallowed hard, her gaze downcast. This was standard bullying fare for Livi and her cronies, but it was made worse by the fact that, unbeknownst to the bully, there was a grain of truth in her words. Once again, Emerald could feel a stirring between her legs.

Jemma laughed harshly, flicking her long dirty-blonde hair out of her face. “I wish I could’ve seen that, the brainy bitch turned into a dumb little dolly...”

“Yeah,” Georgie chortled, “I bet she was all duh, duh, duh...” She stretched her arms out in front of her and rolled her eyes up in her head, in a mocking zombie impersonation.

“See for yourselves,” Livi said quietly, and Emerald could hear the threat in her voice. Panicked, she spun back around to face her nemesis, who was raising her clenched fists, on which she wore brass bands decorated with spirals. They were basically knuckledusters, but rather than hitting people with them, Livi used them to channel her magic. (And sometimes to hit people.)

Emerald wanted to run, but with the three tall, athletic girls surrounding her, there was nowhere to go. And there was no point pleading - that would only provoke them even more. She watched helplessly as Livi tapped the brass knuckledusters together twice, producing crackling orange sparks. As she drew them apart, a small orb of orange electricity formed between her fists, both of which she abruptly, violently aimed in Emerald’s direction. The magical sphere shot forwards as if flung from a catapult, filling Emerald’s field of vision as it flew directly at her face. The next second the blinding light had vanished, leaving her vision as clear as ever. She looked back at Livi, whose cruel smirk was growing into a predatory leer.

This time, Emerald could observe the changes happening to her. The fear, the desperation, the humiliation, all faded away in a matter of seconds. She tried to cling onto a little steel inside herself - a little resistance, a little willpower - but the steel melted and poured away. Soon, all that remained was the dreamy, floaty happiness she had felt a couple of hours earlier. She gazed at Livi, no longer troubled by her wolfish grin.

“Wooow,” Jemma gasped. She reached out and took hold of Emerald’s wrist, tugging it up into the air. Emerald placidly watched her do it, letting her lift her arm up and then drop it back down. It flopped limply back to her side, the sight of it making Emerald giggle softly. Everything felt so great. She was in such a good mood. Nothing was worrying her.

“She looks fantastic,” Jemma grinned, her eyes wild. “So stupid and compliant! What should we do with her?”

“I wanna see her do the zombie walk,” Georgie said eagerly.

“In a minute. I have an idea of my own first.” Livi smiled cruelly. “I’ve just been running around on the field, after all, and now my trainers are filthy.”

Catching on to what she was implying, Jemma and Georgie started to laugh. Emerald smiled dopily at them, not following the joke but feeling amused and cheerful nonetheless.

Livi grabbed her by the shoulders and stared her in the face. “Emerald, I want you to clean my shoes. With your tongue.”

Emerald didn’t hesitate. Dropping to her knees, she lowered her face towards Livi’s scuffed, battered trainers, which were indeed caked in mud after the PE class. Extending her tongue, she ran it along the surface of the shoe, efficiently, mechanically wiping off as much dirt as she could in one stroke.

Jemma and Georgie were almost crying with mirth at this point, but it wasn’t enough for Livi. “Slower,” she ordered. “Take your time. Like you’re enjoying it... Like you’re making out with it.”

Taking in the instruction, Emerald altered her methods accordingly. Moving her mouth to the toes of the shoe, she engulfed it with her lips and tongue, kissing it like a lover. She stayed at the toes for a while, and then began to travel across the top of the shoe, slurping and fellating the tough, muddy leather. The taste of the shoe and the dirt covering it didn’t register with her. Nor did the discomfort from kneeling on another stone floor, and nor did her growing erection. Just as before, she simply didn’t notice such things - she couldn’t. She had no thoughts, and no feelings, except drifty bliss. She was happily, dreamily obedient.

Livi lifted her foot to give Emerald access to the sole of her shoe, to which she began delivering a slow, luxurious tongue bath.

“What the fuck is going on?”

The exclamation made Livi jump with shock and almost overbalance. Undeterred, Emerald kept licking her shoe. If she had looked up, she would’ve seen a short blonde girl had just entered the corridor. She was not the only person who had done so - a handful of other students had arrived in recent minutes, and were observing Emerald’s plight with reactions that ranged from discomfort, to amusement, to open ridicule. But the newcomer was not one to stand by and let injustice continue.

Freya Travers was an outspoken, politically-active seventh-year, and one of the highest ranked. She had an infamous habit of using multiple spells at the same time, and as her talents had grown over the years, the combinations she’d used had become increasingly inventive. She wasn’t as skilled in combat magic as Livi, but her trickery and ingenuity made her more than a match whenever the two duelled.

Other than a faculty member, Freya was the best possible person to discover Emerald’s predicament.

“Stop,” Livi growled at Emerald, who immediately halted her ministrations. The taller girl tugged her foot out of the kneeling thrall’s grasp.

“I’ll ask again, Sharma,” Freya snarled. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Livi smirked. “We’re just having some fun. Isn’t that right, Emmie? Tell her we’re just having fun.”

Emerald gazed up at Freya, wide-eyed and innocent. “We’re just having fun,” she parrotted.

Freya glared at Livi. “I might not have my lesson on the enthralment hex until tomorrow, but I know what it looks like. You know it’s illegal, right? You could get into deep shit...”

Livi snorted. “Yeah, like I’m gonna get punished for this. I’m top of the year, the teachers’ll just let me off with a warning.”

The blonde witch stared at her for a long moment. Then she lifted her hands towards her face, fingers spread apart, and moved the left hand in front of the right. On the middle finger of her right hand, she wore a chunky ring with a lapis lazuli gemstone.

“Lift the hex,” she demanded. “Now.”

The other students in the corridor backed up, anticipating a fight - with the exception of Jemma and Georgie, loyal to a fault, and Emerald, still kneeling submissively at her enemy’s feet. Livi’s eyes narrowed. Her fists clenched, ready for battle. “Or what, Travers?”

Freya’s eyes glinted as she flexed the fingers on her left hand, and the lapis lazuli on her ring began to glow brightly. Those who had seen her practicing magic knew that the instant she lowered her left hand, exposing the gemstone, the magical energy within would be released - and chaos would reign. But to Livi’s surprise, Freya turned on her heel and aimed her raised hands at Jemma and Georgie instead.

“Or,” she said grimly, “your friends will really regret it.”

There was a long, long pause, as Livi’s mutinous glare flickered between her friends’ suddenly-panicked faces and Freya’s steely expression. Finally, the warrior witch reluctantly tapped her knuckledusters together, producing more orange sparks as she dispelled the enthralment hex.

Emerald came to her senses with a start, spluttering as she suddenly became aware of the foul taste of mud in her mouth. Wiping her tongue with the back of her hand, she stared up at Livi in utter horror and revulsion. Scrambling backwards on the stone floor, her knees really aching, she struggled to her feet and ran from the corridor. Freya did not lower her hands until Emerald was gone, turning on her heel and marching away after one last venomous glare at Livi.

Barely suppressing her tears, Emerald raced back to her dormitory. Fuck! Fucking Livi! She hated her so much! What an utter psychopath! Not for the first time, she felt anger well up inside her. She was desperate for a chance to get even - but without any magical ability, how could she? What could she ever do to hurt the accomplished warrior witch? How could she hope to avoid her continued torment for the rest of the year - particularly now Livi knew how to wield an enthralment hex?

And why, why, was she still so fucking turned on?!

***

Some time later, there was a knock on the door of Emerald’s bedroom, to which she had retreated as soon as she’d found a water fountain with which to wash away the taste of Livi’s shoe dirt. Startled by the sound, she pulled her hand out of her panties, wiping it on her skirt. Ashamed as she was of her bizarre arousal, she felt partly grateful for the interruption - even though another insidious part of her wanted to ignore the knock, to keep touching herself, to keep remembering how it felt to be so completely controlled and compelled.

With great reluctance, she got up from her bed, crossed to the door, and pulled it open. Freya stood in the doorway, brandishing a sandwich. “Figured you probably skipped lunch after what happened,” she said, smiling warmly. “I thought I’d bring you something.”

Emerald’s lip trembled. “That’s... that’s so nice of you. I can’t believe you did that...”

Freya blushed. “Hey, it’s just a beef sandwich, not Merlin’s staff. Or Livi’s head on a plate.” She winked.

Giggling weakly, Emerald accepted the food. She had to admit, the day’s traumatic experiences combined with missing lunch had left her quite ravenous. She wolfed down the sandwich as quickly as she could, only slightly embarrassed to be seen eating in such an undignified manner by the pretty blonde witch, who just smiled benignly as she watched.

“Can I come in?” Freya asked once Emerald had consumed the humble meal. She nodded, and they stepped into the room. “How are you, after... y’know, everything?” Freya enquired, pushing the door shut.

Emerald shrugged helplessly, sitting down on her bed. “Humiliated. Pissed off. Powerless to do anything about it. And...” She stopped herself, blushing.

“And?” Freya raised an eyebrow.

Emerald considered her words carefully. “How much do you know about the enthralment hex? About how it... affects people?”

Freya thought for a moment. “Well, usually it creates a sort of dreamlike bliss, where everything seems absolutely normal even if you’re told to do something ridiculous. But you probably know that already, so... I don’t know what you want me to s-”

“Have you ever heard,” Emerald interrupted, “of people getting, um...” - her voice lowered to a mumble - “excited? Like, umm... horny?”

Freya’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Wait - are you saying that you...”

Emerald couldn’t meet her gaze, her cheeks turning bright scarlet. “Mmm,” she mumbled.

Sitting down on the bed next to Emerald, the blonde witch processed this revelation for a moment. On one level, it was kind of weird that Emerald would tell her this. They didn’t know each other that well - although they’d lived in the same dormitory for the past two years, their bedrooms were not adjacent, and they rarely socialised. Emerald was something of a loner, without many friends, while Freya had quite a few. So it was startling for her to share this information. But Freya realised she must have been dying to tell someone all day, and couldn’t help but admire her for being brave enough to do so. And with all due modesty, Freya was generally considered a trustworthy person! She liked to think she lived up to that reputation.

“Well,” she said slowly, “I actually have heard some things about people who get really into the enthralment hex - who let trusted partners or friends use it on them for recreational purposes. I guess it’s their kink... Maybe it’s yours, too?”

Emerald shrugged. “I’d never even thought about it til today. But after the lesson, I was so... I mean, I... And even after what Livi did to me, which was so horrible... I’m still thinking about it, and it still...” She covered her face with her hands. “What the fuck is wrong with me? Why would I enjoy something like that, at all? What kind of freak -”

“Hey,” Freya cut her off, reaching out and grasping her shoulders. Startled by the contact, Emerald lowered her hands, finally making eye contact. “You’re not a freak,” the blonde girl insisted. “Don’t ever think that. You clearly like the feeling of being controlled, for some reason - be it physical or psychological. There’s no reason to feel guilty about that. The only person who should feel guilty is Livi Sharma. She should pay for what she did to you. It doesn’t matter if you got turned on by it - it was still done without your consent. It was wrong, and she deserves to be punished.”

Emerald’s expression had started to brighten at Freya’s consoling words, but she slumped again now, her face turning glum again. “She won’t be,” she muttered. “You heard what she said - she’ll get away with anything, because she’s the star of the year. I can’t get her punished - and I can’t fight back, because I’m shit at magic.”

“Well, I’m not, and I’d love to take that bitch down a peg or seven,” Freya said with a grin. “And if that means helping you, even better.”

Emerald gazed at her through teary eyes. “You’d really do that for me?”

“Absolutely.” Freya leaned back against the wall by the bed, frowning as she contemplated. “We just have to figure out what, exactly. With my skills and your brains, I’m sure we can come up with something...”