“OK, let’s go over the plan one more time,” Freya said. She was perched on the edge of Emerald’s desk, staring directly ahead of her pensively.

Emerald gazed up at her from her own bed, on which she sat cross-legged. As Freya spoke, reviewing the details of their scheme, Emerald nodded along, not really listening. It had been three days since the class on the enthralment hex. Three days since Emerald had discovered her unexpected kink, of which she was finally beginning to feel a little less ashamed, with Freya’s encouragement. Three days since Livi had taken control of her and made her publicly humiliate herself. Three days since Freya had come to her room and joined forces with her to get revenge, and they’d devised a plan which they both considered just, as well as deliciously ironic.

They’d gone over every detail so many times, they knew it off by heart - Freya was just talking it through again to calm her own nerves at this point. Emerald was nervous too, of course, but also excited. Not only by the prospect of revenge against her longtime bully, but also by the presence of her new friend.

She’d done a lot of introspection in the last 72 hours. She’d thought about how being enthralled made her feel, and why it made her feel that way. In the end, she’d come to the conclusion that it didn’t matter why. All that mattered was that it turned her on more than anything else she’d ever thought of or experienced, and she wanted to do it again. But not in a classroom setting, as Professor Finn’s test dummy - and definitely not at the whim of Livi Sharma, or someone equally repugnant. No, she wanted to find someone she trusted, someone who would take control of her and make her feel completely helpless, but who wouldn’t go too far and cross any of her boundaries, or cause her actual harm.

Of course, when Emerald thought about being controlled late at night with her hands wandering over her body, her mind couldn’t help going back to images of being hexed without her consent - of her free will being stolen from her by Livi, or Hannah, or Jemma, or another of her malicious classmates... of being made to do all manner of unspeakable things against her will, with no thought of her own feelings or safety... Damn, those fantasies made her hard. But she was determined that they would remain fantasies. She would not put herself at risk, or let anyone else put her at risk - as far as she could help it, anyway. So she tried her best to imagine being enthralled and dominated by a trusted partner - who was still prepared to do a wide variety of sexy, degrading things with (or to) her.

More and more, the imaginary trusted partner wore Freya’s face.

Emerald had always thought of the superior witch as one of the few genuinely decent people in their year group. And she’d always found her cute, with her long blonde hair, her snow-white complexion, her pert tits and her shapely arse. But Emerald had never dared imagine Freya would actually want to be friends with her, let alone anything more than that. She had underestimated her.

As she continued to gaze wistfully at her new friend, Emerald suddenly realised Freya had stopped talking and was looking back at her questioningly, having just asked if she’d missed any details from the plan. “N-no,” Emerald said hurriedly, “you’ve covered everything.”

“Cool,” Freya said, letting out a big breath. She glanced at the clock on Emerald’s wall, and then stood up. “We should get going, it’s almost time.”

Biting her lip nervously, Emerald clambered off her bed. Freya held out a hand to help her, which she accepted with a small smile.

Their eyes met, and Freya grinned. “Let’s go get that bitch,” she said.

Emerald grinned back. It didn’t matter that she had no magical talent at all. With Freya by her side, she felt unstoppable.

***

Emerging from the rookery, Livi strolled through the deserted hallway outside, not paying much attention to her surroundings. She was too busy reading a letter from her parents, who lived in Sydney and had sent it using their family’s raven familiar. She smiled jubilantly at the news that her father’s shrewd dealings with a goblin by the name of Vana had increased their already sizeable fortunes still further.

“Someone’s cheerful,” came a hostile voice from the other end of the hallway. “What happened, you sense someone falling and breaking their leg?”

Livi looked up to see Emerald standing by the large crow statue that dominated much of the space. To her surprise, the shorter girl looked angry - and determined. Usually she wouldn’t say boo to a grindylow, but perhaps the enthralment incident the other day had brought her to her breaking point. Like it mattered - it wasn’t as if Emerald posed any threat to her at all.

She smirked. “Emmie, dear! I’ve been hoping to run into you for a couple of days now. I feel like you’re avoiding me!”

“Gee, why would I be avoiding you?” Emerald growled. “After you hexed me without my consent and made me lick your fucking shoes...”

Livi gave a mock gasp. “Such foul language! My my, someone needs to be taught some manners.” She stepped closer, her body automatically shifting into a combative stance, fists clenching in preparation for spellcasting.

For once, Emerald didn’t back away. She stood firm, her jaw set, and looked Livi straight in the face. “I’m not af-afraid of you,” she said defiantly. But the stammer, and her slightly watery eyes, gave her away.

Livi gave her signature predatory grin. “Even if that were true, you will be soon...”

“Why?” Emerald shook her head, looking exhausted. “Just - why, Livi? Why are you like this? Why do you enjoy hurting me - amongst others? What do you even get out of it?”

“Get out of it?” Livi sniggered. “I get a huge amount of satisfaction, that’s what I get. Besides, it’s my duty. Weakness needs to be punished - it needs to be stamped out. That’s my duty, as one of the strong - the strongest. To stamp out the weak, the useless, the pathetic. Like you.”

Emerald gave her a pitying look. “No, Livi. The duty of the strong is to protect the weak. To defend those who can’t defend themselves. I can’t imagine why you think the opposite of that, but you behaving like this, treating me like this, makes you look pathetic, not me.”

Livi flinched. “Oh, I’m gonna make you regret that, you insect,” she hissed, raising her fists. “I’m gonna make you do anything and everything I want. You’re gonna be my bitch, for the rest of the day. And you’ll be my bitch for the rest of this year, too - by choice. Because if you refuse, I’ll just enthral you again...”

“I gave you one last chance,” Emerald said quietly. “I hope you remember that. I gave you a chance to stop, and think about what you’re doing, and choose another way. You didn’t take it. What happens next is on you.”

Livi’s eyebrows creased as she gave her prey a look of bewilderment. “What happens next? What happens next is I crush you - I make you my puppet and make you humiliate yourself for my enjoyment, for the next nine months. You really think you’re gonna somehow turn this around?” Without further ado, she tapped her knuckledusters together and conjured a crackling orange sphere of magic.

“Funny you should say that,” Emerald murmured, as Livi launched the hex at her face...

... and it stopped in mid-air, inches from Emerald’s head. An instant later, it rocketed back at Livi, who had no time to process what was happening before it struck her in her forehead and vanished.

Livi blinked, looking around dumbly. “I - what -” she grunted.

Emerald stepped towards her, a triumphant smile spreading across her face. “Livi, you’ll do whatever I say, won’t you?”

“Yes,” Livi said unhesitatingly, as if it were obvious. Her aggressive expression was relaxing into blank docility. Her arms dropped to her sides and hung loosely, her parents’ letter slipping between her fingers and falling to the floor.

“Turn around, bend over, and pull up your skirt.”

Livi did so immediately, revealing white panties that barely disguised round, ripe buttocks, as she bent down far enough to touch her toes.

Emerald stepped back a few paces, towards the statue. As she did so, another girl slipped out from behind it.

No, not another girl. The same girl. Another Emerald, identical in appearance to the first - except where Emerald One wore a look of smug satisfaction, Emerald Two had a gleeful, excited expression on her face. Emerald One bowed to her doppelgänger and gestured towards Livi, as if to say ‘She’s all yours’. Then she slipped behind the statue, while Emerald Two approached the enthralled witch, who had not seen the switch.

Emerald Two swallowed hard, licking her lips. “Livi, I’m going to s-spank you,” she stammered. “And, and every time I do, you’ll say, ‘Thank you for punishing me’. ‘Mistress’,” she added hurriedly. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” came Livi’s voice from somewhere near the floor.

Grinning, Emerald Two raised her right hand, palm flat, and dealt a hearty slap to Livi’s right arse cheek.

“Thank you for punishing me, Mistress,” Livi said brightly, aware of the slap but unable to feel the pain in her current state. Emerald slapped her other cheek, and she repeated the phrase again, just as cheerfully.

Emerald paused for a moment. “Act like you feel it,” she ordered. “Act like it hurts.”

When the third slap met Livi’s arse, she gasped. “Thank you for punishing me, Mistress,” she said once more, but this time in a pained whimper.

Again and again Emerald struck her, letting out years of pent-up rage at her abuse. Again and again Livi cried out in a perfect mimicry of the pain she would have felt had she not been enthralled. Again and again she forced out the mantra of gratitude, until she was sobbing it.

Finally, Emerald ceased her assault and ordered Livi to straighten up and face her. She did so, tears streaming down her cheeks. For a moment Emerald felt a pang of guilt, but then she remembered the taste of mud on her tongue, and her heart hardened.

“Livi, I want you to go and find Georgie and Jemma,” she began. She proceeded to lay out a series of instructions for her mind-controlled nemesis, all of which she absorbed with a placid smile, no longer pretending to be in pain, though she was still teary-eyed from the act.

“If anyone asks what happened to you, you’ll tell them the truth,” Emerald said finally. “You’ll tell them that you tried to use the enthralment hex on me - without my consent - and it was reflected back at you. Now, do you understand everything I’ve told you to do?”

“Yes.”

Emerald paused, considering this. “That should be ‘yes, Mistress’,” she corrected. “Say that.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Good. Off you go.”

Livi turned to walk away. Glancing down at the floor, Emerald had a sudden flash of inspiration and called after her. “Wait.” The thrall stopped in her tracks. Picking up the discarded letter, Emerald trotted after her and held it out. “Take this, and put it in your mouth and eat it while you go find your friends.”

Livi obediently took the letter and stuffed it in her mouth, before continuing on her way out of the chamber. Emerald could hear her chewing the scrap of paper as she strode out of sight.

Once she was gone, Emerald called out, “All clear!”

The first Emerald stepped back out from behind the statue. “That... was awesome,” she cackled. “Are you sure you don’t have a kink for being in control, rather than being controlled? Because you took to that like a duck to water!”

Emerald Two blushed. “I, ah... I did enjoy that, to be honest. Maybe because it was Livi, and I just liked getting revenge... but after being controlled a bunch the other day, it was kind of nice being the one in charge this time.”

Emerald One grinned. “Well, the plan went off without a hitch. Nicely done, Em!”

“Me? You’re the one who pulled it off! Without your powers - and your flawless acting - this wouldn’t have worked at all.” Emerald Two giggled. “Although, do you mind changing back now? It’s kinda freaking me out, seeing you with my face...”

“Oh, sure,” Emerald One chuckled, making a careless gesture with her right hand. The lapis lazuli ring reappeared with a shimmer, which rippled quickly across her arm and then the rest of her body. Within seconds the glamour had been dispelled, restoring Freya’s true appearance.

“See, you just pulled off a glamour and a rebounding ward at the same time!” Emerald remarked. “Maybe that’s just average for you, but I couldn’t have done it. And the whole plan hinged on it! You’re a legend, Freya.”

“Oh, please,” Freya laughed dismissively. “It was your plan, I was just your instrument. Your puppet, just like Livi. Only difference is, you didn’t need a hex to get me to do what you wanted...” She winked.

Emerald gulped. Was that flirting? It sounded like flirting. If Freya Travers was into her, on top of everything else, this really might be the best day of her life...

“So that spell shouldn’t wear off for ages,” Freya continued, either not noticing or politely ignoring how flustered Emerald was. “Livi was the one who cast it, so it can’t be removed...”

“Because only she could do it,” Emerald nodded. “And in her current state, she might be able to cast an enthralment hex, but she couldn’t muster the brainpower to lift one. She’ll just have to wait for it to wear off... And considering how powerful she is, the hex might hold for days...” She trailed off, grinning wickedly at the thought of her enemy’s predicament.

“Teachers’ll probably stash them in the sanitorium in the meantime,” Freya noted. “And if they ask them what happened...”

“Well, that’s the best part,” Emerald smirked. “No-one will believe I got the better of Livi Sharma. Powerless little Emerald Kane, beating the most accomplished warrior witch in our year? Completely implausible.”

“And no-one’ll know it was me, because no-one knows we’re friends,” Freya mused.

Emerald shrugged. “I mean, after you came to my rescue the other day, a couple of people might suspect. But they’ll never be able to prove it. Livi only ever saw me - one of me at a time - so she won’t know I had help.” Her smile widened, her eyes darkening. “Once she comes out of it, she’ll remember what happened. She’ll remember me reflecting her magic back at her. And she’ll think twice about crossing me - or anyone else she considers weak and pathetic - ever again.”

Freya shivered at the sight of Emerald’s vindictive leer. “You... you’re...”

Emerald’s smile faded. “What?” she asked, feeling a little worried. Was Freya going to judge her for enjoying her vengeance?

“You’re... a genius,” Freya said at last, to Emerald’s great relief. “I mean, I knew the whole plan going in - every step, and the purpose behind them... But we actually pulled it off. It worked. And it’s masterful. You’re a fucking genius, Emerald, I mean it.”

Emerald blushed and smiled yet again. She felt like she spent most of her time in Freya’s company with crimson cheeks and an embarrassed but delighted smile. “Thank you,” she mumbled happily.

Freya nodded in the direction of the doorway through which Livi had left. “Shall we go see our handiwork?”

“Oh, yes,” Emerald said eagerly. “But we should arrive separately, just to avoid drawing suspicion.”

“Good call,” Freya nodded. “You go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“OK...” Emerald began to walk away, but then spun on her heel, darted back to Freya, and threw her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. “Thank you thank you thank you,” she blurted, “I couldn’t have done this without you! Thank you so, so, so much!”

Chuckling, Freya returned the hug. “You’re more than welcome, Em.”

They stayed in the embrace for several more long seconds, Emerald leaning her head on Freya’s shoulder and luxuriating in the warmth of her arms and torso, while trying to subtly tilt her pelvis away so she wouldn’t feel her erection. Finally, Freya released her. “OK, get going, you dope! You don’t wanna miss a second of this.”

“Right, right!” Emerald chuckled. “See you in a minute.” And she scurried away, Freya’s fond laughter echoing behind her.

***

By the time Emerald reached the courtyard, the culmination of her plan was already underway. The area was filled with dozens of students, but all eyes were on Livi, Georgie and Jemma. The three girls were following Emerald’s instructions to the letter - although Livi’s two henchwomen had only heard the orders from Livi, after being hexed by her.

Jemma was shirtless, and had her hands on her hips, flapping her arms like wings as she strutted around aimlessly, feet pawing at the ground beneath her, eyes wide and vacant. She was making continuous clucking sounds, ceaselessly exclaiming “Buck, buck, buck, buck...” Her huge boobs swung like pendulums as she paraded around. A giggling student approached her with an outstretched hand full of chips, and as soon as she saw the food Jemma lunged for it with her face, haphazardly pecking at it with her ‘beak’, her efforts to eat the chips mostly only mashing them into fragments with her nose and upper lip. Emerald spotted Hannah the animal lover among the crowd surrounding Jemma, eyeing her intently, perhaps considering transfiguring the thrall so that she was a chicken physically as well as mentally.

Georgie was doing exactly what she’d kept threatening to make Emerald do the other day. She was staggering around the courtyard with outstretched arms and a fixed ahegao face - her eyes rolled back in her head, her mouth open wide, and her tongue hanging out. She made occasional low moans, perfectly completing the zombie act. Her shirt had been rolled up and her bra pulled down to expose her chest, and someone had put a collar around her neck, with a leash that dangled down between her perky tits. Every so often a spectator would dart forwards, take hold of the leash, and yank the zombie girl in a different direction.

But Livi’s plight delighted Emerald the most. The muscular girl was on all fours in the middle of the courtyard, with her panties on her head and her skirt pulled up to expose her bare arse. Her mouth hung open, letting drool trickle out onto the ground beneath her. Every ten seconds or so she would say one of the handful of phrases Emerald had given her: “I’m a stupid slut.” “I’m free-use furniture.” “I’m beneath everybody.” “I’m a worthless object.” “I only matter when I’m being used.” “Please use me as your bench.” A couple of girls had taken her up on that, and were perched on her back, almost crying with laughter. Emerald could see the tension in Livi’s arms and legs from supporting their weight.

The sight of her enemies - particularly Livi - being so publicly humiliated filled Emerald with savage glee. And it was hard to deny that it was hot, seeing them so degraded, knowing she was responsible. Noticing that she was getting turned on once again, she considered that maybe Freya was right. Maybe she had a kink for controlling, as well as being controlled...

Hearing an impressed whistle from behind her, Emerald turned to see Freya watching the three brainwashed bullies in gleeful astonishment. “This is even better than I imagined.”

“I know, right?” Emerald grinned.

Before too long a couple of teachers arrived and intervened in the public display, stopping the three bullies’ demented behaviour and ushering them away to the sanitorium. Though the show was over, the other students kept discussing it raucously, hysterical laughter still echoing through the courtyard.

Freya stepped close to Emerald and leaned in conspiratorially. “Mission accomplished,” she said quietly. “Was it everything you’d hoped it’d be?”

Emerald sighed happily. “It was everything and more.”

Freya beamed. “Hey, I know we said we’d keep our distance from each other to avoid suspicion, but... when everything’s calmed down - maybe next weekend - do you want to hang out? Go into town, maybe?”

Emerald blinked, surprised but delighted. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’d like that! I’d like to hang out with you and your friends.”

It was Freya’s turn to look surprised. “I didn’t say anything about my friends,” she said with a smile. “I was thinking it could just be you and me.”

Emerald inhaled sharply, her eyes widening. “You... you mean, like a - a date?”

Freya raised an eyebrow, still wearing that teasing but fond grin. “If you’re interested, yeah!”

Although Emerald knew what her answer would be, it took her a long moment to say it. She was too busy thinking, BEST DAY EVER!