Hermione and Emma watched as Harry left, relieved that this would all be over soon.
They had only a few minutes to themselves before Arcanum returned. Unlike the real Harry, he was clean shaven and wearing fresh clothes.
“I believe congratulations are in order, ladies,” Arcanum said as he walked in. “So far, everything Mr. Potter said seems to check out. Once we receive full payment and you complete your modifications and training, you will leave in his custody.”
“In the meantime, we will continue with your training and treatments.”
“But why?” Hermione demanded. “Harry has the money. He wouldn’t have said so otherwise.”
“Your original buyer is still interested. If Mr. Potter cannot, or declines to pay, we will keep our commitment to your original buyer, and to do that, we must keep our original delivery date,” the man explained.
“We can get through a few more days of this, Hermione. It will all be over soon,” Emma said.
“I don’t believe you have anything to worry about on that front,” Arcanum agreed. “We have made it very clear to Mr. Potter what will happen to him personally if what he said was in any way untrue.”
“The best thing you can do is as you’re told, the faster you complete your training, the faster you can leave with Mr. Potter.”
Hermione and Emma looked at each other, each thinking about what Arcanum had told them.
‘Maybe it’s better to just get this over with,’ Hermione thought. ‘Then we can leave this awful place and tell the Aurors everything we know so that they can find and punish these people.’
Arcanum clapped his hands together. “And now you will begin learning submission poses. Please face the screens and assume the positions shown.”
Hermione and Emma could only watch the screen, wondering what new humiliating thing Arcanum would make them do next.
They first heard the chime, then the word “inspection” sounded.
On the screen a woman appeared, naked and collared, just like them.
She stood with her legs shoulder width apart and bent over slightly at the waist. Her ass was sticking out while she held her hands behind her head and crossed them at the wrists.
Emma sighed. She knew it would be something like this, and by now she knew better than to fight it. She got into position, then turned her head slightly to see what Hermione had done. Immediately, she felt the warning buzz of her collar and quickly looked forward again.
Arcanum walked between them, examining their positions. He slapped Emma’s right thigh, coaxing her to spread her legs further apart.
He then moved to Hermione and pushed on her back, forcing her to tilt her chest a little more forward.
Both women were feeling the strain as the minutes dragged on. Not that the pose was difficult, but staying completely still was the tough part.
The chime finally sounded, letting them stand normally again. But it was only a temporary reprieve as the woman was now shown from the back. “Full inspection.”
Both Hermione and Emma went bright red as they saw the new pose. It was the same as ‘inspection,’ but instead of the woman’s arms being crossed behind her head, she was pulling her ass cheeks apart, fully exposing her asshole and cunt.
The collars buzzed in warning, but neither of them moved, too shocked by what Arcanum expected them to do next. A moment later, they both yelped as they felt the stinging hex, reminding them where they were.
Hermione desperately wanted to protest, to yell, to scream, but she knew it would only make things worse. The longer they took to complete their ‘training’, the longer it would be before they could leave.
With her face burning with humiliation, she pulled her ass cheeks apart, fully exposing herself to Arcanum, standing directly behind her.
Thankfully, he didn’t say anything or correct her pose, and she waited for the chime to sound so she could stop this humiliating pose.
The chime sounded again. This time the word was “wait.”
The same woman appeared on the screen again. This time, the screen showed both her back and front.
She was standing again, this time on the tips of her toes. Her back was straight, and her fingers were interlocked behind her back and pulled together, and down, causing her chest to push forward.
Emma looked at the picture of the woman, wondering who she was. Was it another woman they kidnapped? How many women had the man done this to?
She snapped back to reality when she felt the buzz of her collar, not wanting to be stung again. She quickly assumed the pose and stared forward.
Emma felt Arcanum behind her. She could practically feel his breath on the back of her neck. He pulled down on her wrists and pulled her shoulders back a little further, pushing her breasts out even further.
A few minutes later, the screen went blank, and she sighed in relief as she got off her toes.
The chime sounded again, “wall.”
The woman stood shoulder width apart, but this time she was bent at the waist with her forehead pressed against the wall. She crossed her wrists above her head and held them against the wall.
Emma looked at the screen. The woman’s ass was sticking out. It was clear what the position was meant for. She moved to the wall, Hermione beside her as she got into the pose.
She heard Arcanum walk up behind her, and she could feel his eyes roaming across her body.
She gasped suddenly as she felt four sharp slaps on her ass, two for each cheek.
A moment later she heard more slaps, realizing the man was doing the same to Hermione.
“Wall, commonly used for punishments, amongst other things,” the man said as he stepped back.
The chime sounded again, letting Hermione know she could move again, but then she heard the words, “full wall.”
She didn’t even have to look at the picture to know what she was supposed to do.
The woman was in the same position as before, but instead of holding her hands above her head, she was pulling her ass cheeks wide apart.
Swallowing her anger and embarrassment, Hermione got into the position, glad that she was facing the wall so that she didn’t have to see Arcanum staring at her.
After a very long few minutes, the chime sounded again, “present.”
This time the woman was on her knees, legs spread apart, and her back arched, chest pushed forward. She crossed her hands behind her head and she gazed down at the floor.
Hermione and Emma both dropped to their knees, assuming the position. They felt their collars buzz as Arcanum spoke. “Pull your knees further apart, and eyes firmly on the ground.”
They both followed his instructions, thankful that the collars had stopped buzzing when they did.
The chime sounded again, “ready.”
This time the woman was still kneeling, knees spread wide apart, but this time she was leaning forward and looking up. She placed her hands on the ground in front of her.
Hermione found this position easier to get into as all she had to do was lean forward and place her hands on the ground, but she couldn’t help the feeling that she was being treated like a dog, doing tricks to please her master.
She didn’t look to her side to see how Emma was doing. She knew she was already going to be spanked today. But she knew that if she didn’t keep trying, Arcanum would make it worse for them.
The chime sounded again as the next pose appeared, “kneel.”
This time the woman had her knees pressed together with her hands placed palm down on her legs. Her back was straight and her head bowed.
‘This one is practically respectable, compared to the others,’ Emma thought as she brought her knees together and assumed the position.
Her collar didn’t buzz, so it seemed like she got the pose correct the first time.
The chime sounded as the image changed again. This time it showed the woman in profile, “punishment.”
She folded her arms in front of her with her chin resting on her forearms. She had her ass in the air, with her feet raised up off the ground and held together.
Emma could immediately tell this pose would not only be difficult to maintain, but it would also leave her exposed as well. She did her best to get into position and lifted her feet up, but almost immediately she felt her collar buzz, followed by Arcanum crouching behind her.
She felt him lift her feet a little higher and press down on the small of her back, getting her to arch her back.
The collar stopped buzzing, but Emma wasn’t sure how long she could stay in position. The pose was already awkward to hold, and she felt her legs shake and the collar vibrate, but it was no good.
Her feet dropped to the door, and she yelped as she felt the stinging hex. It stopped after a moment, giving Emma a chance to catch her breath.
She quickly got into position again, straining to hold the position, as the seconds ticked by as she did her best to stop from shaking.
She sighed in relief as she finally heard the chime again and she could finally lower her feet.
Emma looked up at the screen as the new position appeared. “head down, ass up.”
The position was like the last one. The woman turned her head to the side and pressed her cheek to the floor. She spread apart her legs, and her ass was in the air. Emma could easily tell this pose would have a full variation.
She pressed her cheek to the floor and spread her legs apart, just like the picture.
Thankfully, Arcanum didn’t seem to find anything wrong with her pose and she didn’t feel her collar buzz.
The chime sounded again. “Full head down, ass up.”
Emma reached back and spread her ass apart. She could practically feel Arcanum’s eyes boring into her as she did, but thankfully there were no adjustments this time.
The chime sounded again, “cat.”
This time Emma and Hermione watched as the woman kneeled on the ground on her hands and knees with her back arched, legs spread apart.
They both stood up, arching their backs, and mimicked the pose with no difficulty.
The chime sounded a final time. “Doll.”
This time the woman lay on her back, her feet placed on the floor and spread apart. She placed her hands on the ground, above her head in an X as she stared up.
Both Hermione and Emma easily got into this position as well.
“Well done ladies,” Arcanum said. “We will continue to practice the poses over the next few days until it’s second nature for you, but now it’s time for you to eat again,” he said as he went to the wall.
A panel slid open, revealing two more bowls of porridge. “Kneel,” the man instructed.
After a moment’s hesitation to remember the pose, Hermione and Emma quickly sat up as they felt their collars buzz again and assumed the position.
Arcanum placed a bowl in each of their hands. “Eat,” he ordered.
They quickly started eating from the bowls again, not caring that it was the same thing they had eaten earlier. They were just glad it wasn’t nutritional potions.
“While you’re eating, I will explain more about how our world works so you can have a better idea about what to expect from your new lives when you leave with Mr. Potter,” Arcanum started.
“When you attended Hogwarts you were taught side by side with wizards, and for the most part your magical abilities were on the same level.”
“What you have not been told is how your magic grows over time, and how long you can expect to live based on that.”
“It’s usually between the years of 17 and 18 that you reach magical maturity. That is when you feel a rapid increase of both the potency of your magic and the size of your magical core. It will continue to increase at that pace until you reach the approximate age of 50.”
“After that point, your magic will continue to grow, but at a slower pace, perhaps for another 35 years on average.”
“Then the pace will slow again but continue to grow until the age of 115.”
“This is when things go in one of two directions. You will have either exercised your magic and body rigorously over the years, in which case your magic will continue to grow, albeit at a much smaller pace, until the age of 150.”
“At roughly that point, give or take 10 to 20 years, your magic will stop growing and actually start diminishing, more and more of your magic will be needed to keep you alive, and repair the general health issues that come with age.”
“The average age of a witch or wizard is 200 years, and the oldest living wizard to date has been Armando Dippet. He lived to be 355 years of age.”
“Wait,” Hermione interrupted. “That’s not true. What about the Flammel’s? They lived to be over 600.”
“Correct Ms. Granger,” Arcanum agreed. “But the philosopher’s stone aided them, and even then they were not the oldest. That honor went to Barry Winkle.”
“Who is that?” Emma asked, trying to remember what she could from her years at Hogwarts.
“That is an excellent question, Mrs. Granger. I can tell you he is over 750 years old, attended Hogwarts as a Gryffindor, but not much else.”
“Although he never admitted it, it has been long suspected some outside means, perhaps his own version of the philosopher’s stone or some other magical construct, perhaps even a horcrux aided that his long life.”
“Yes, I am quite aware of their existence, Ms. Granger, as are many of us,” the man said as he noticed Hermione’s gasp.
“We have strayed a bit off topic, so getting back to it, if you have not trained your body and magic, you will lose your magic at a much faster pace.”
“The next thing you need to understand is how your magic grows. Part of it is because of genetics.”
This surprised both Hermione and Emma. Neither one had even thought that wizard kind knew about genetics.
“If both your parents are magical, there is a distinct advantage for a maximum of six generations, if at that point a half blood or muggle does not mate with the pureblood they will see a decline in both age and magical ability of their offspring.”
“The longer they wait, the weaker their offspring become. If left unchecked, it will eventually reach a point where even mating with a muggle born will not be enough, and it will lead to line death.”
“A half blood will give magically powerful offspring, but it will be at most another two to three generations before they are back to where they started.”
“A muggle born, however, producing offspring with purebloods will create magically powerful offspring for approximately six generations roughly equal in power to what a half blood is capable of.”
Hermione and Emma nodded, following along. Now they at least understood part of the reason they were here.
“The next part requires more research. We have only studied it for the past 40 years, so keep in mind it is speculative, but what we have discovered is plausible,” the man continued.
“We assumed that muggle born could be both male and female, but the new research suggests that muggle born are only female.”
“What we believed to be male muggle born were actually the offspring of a female muggle born and a male muggle.”
“What we know as fact is a female muggle born will produce magical offspring with whoever they mate with, be they muggle, half-blood, or even squib.”
“What else we know as fact is, on average, a wizard will be more powerful than a witch.”
“That isn’t true,” Hermione denied again. “I have beaten plenty of wizards, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, just to name a few,” she said hotly.
“That is also correct, Ms. Granger, but there are also a few other things to consider.”
“The first is that your comparison came from when you were in Hogwarts, likely before your magic maturity.”
“The second is that all the wizards you mentioned were blood purists, and have not had offspring with a muggle born in at least the last four generations with the Malfoy family, and as many as ten with the Goyle family.”
“The third is that I said average. I can not deny that there are below average wizards, and there are above average witches. But if we look at the dueling circuit as an example, the witches and wizards that take part operate at an extremely high level.”
“If we matched the top witch against a wizard ranked 200th in the world, the wizard would easily win every time. They are faster, stronger, and magically more powerful.”
“There have even been some exhibition matches in the 1970s and 80s that proved just that.”
“What about Bellatrix Lestrange?” Emma asked. “She was on the frontline of the last war.”
“Yes,” the man chuckled, “a brilliant piece of propaganda by Riddle.”
“What do you mean?” Emma asked.
“The vast majority of her kills were muggles, and when she killed wizards, it was usually alongside her husband Rudolphus Lestrange, never in a fair fight.”
“She tortured the Longbottom’s into a catatonic state after dueling them, but only with the aid of her husband and, if the reports are to be believed, it was an ambush.”
“She killed Sirius Black, but again, there were extenuating circumstances. He spent twelve years in the company of Dementors, stunting his magical core. Sirius Black was a shell of his former self, and perhaps it would be another decade to regain what he lost naturally.”
“Bellatrix, on the other hand, performed a series of dark magical rituals to restore her magic as soon as she escaped.”
“The data is in on this. We have known it with certainty for the past 500 years,” Arcanum explained.
“Riddle led the world to believe that all his followers were powerful and deadly, that it was better to run than to fight.”
“In a battle the defender usually has the advantage, but if they believe their opponent is stronger, they are more likely to flee, and fleeing enemies are far easier to defeat than an enemy willing and able to defend themselves,” the man concluded.
Hermione and Emma looked at each other as they digested what the man had said.
‘The worst part is it sounds plausible,’ Hermione thought to herself. “Why has no one ever told us about this before?” Hermione asked.
“That is a more in-depth conversation than we will have at a later time,” Arcanum replied, “and we still have to deal with your daily spanking.”
“Also, be aware your collars do much more than sting you,” the man explained. “They detected that you both orgasmed last night,” he revealed.
“Your orgasms belong to your owner. It is forbidden to do so without his permission,” the man explained. “Since you were not explicitly told this, you will not be punished, but should you do so again, you will be severely punished.”
Hermione and Emma both knew that they were likely being monitored the whole time, now they knew for certain.
‘We just have to put up with this for a few more days,’ Hermione reminded herself, ‘then this nightmare will be over.’
“Assume the wall position,” Arcanum ordered.
Hermione and Emma quickly got to their feet and assumed the position, avoiding the warning buzz from their collars.
Emma felt Arcanum behind her. She knew what was coming and was powerless to stop it. She could only brace herself and do her best to get through it.
Despite her best efforts, she still gasped as she felt the first spank on her ass. This was followed by a second spank, then a third. She silently counted the spanks in her head as the pain increased with each spank, doing her best not to react.
When she reached 60 spanks, she couldn’t contain herself, and just like the previous day, she yelped after each spank futilely trying to wriggle out of the way.
When it was over, Emma could still feel heat and the sting from the spanking she suffered. She knew her skin was probably red and welted.
Emma heard Arcanum open a jar behind her and turned her head to look, immediately turning back as she felt the warning vibration on her collar.
She felt Arcanum’s fingers on her ass again, but this time there was some kind of gel on his hands. It was cold to the touch, but it immediately removed the pain she was feeling.
A moment later, a second hand caressed her other ass cheek, also covered in gel.
Emma could only stand there as she felt the gel becoming pleasantly warm as the man kneaded it into her skin.
Almost against her will she felt her muscles relax and loosen. The gel, whatever Arcanum was using felt incredible.
Emma felt something pressing against her asshole. At first she thought it was Arcanum’s fingers, but it fell wrong. It was too big.
She reflexively clamped down, trying to stop it before she realized it was the plug again. Arcanum covered it in the same gel that he rubbed into her ass.
Against her will, she felt the plug push past her sphincter, stretching her open around the tip of the plug before finally closing around the base.
Then she felt the all too familiar feeling of the plug turning on and cleaning her insides again.
Hermione had watched everything happen, so knew what was in store for her.
Even when Arcanum was not in the room with them, they were being watched. The collars more than likely tracked everything that happens to their bodies.
Hermione could feel Arcanum behind her now, she could practically feel his breath on the back of her neck.
Just like her mother, she knew it was coming. And despite her best efforts to prepare herself, she still yelped at the first slap.
Hermione could only stand there as the spanks rained down on her, the pain increasing with each slap, to the point she would do anything to make it stop.
As she yelped and flinched, she kept counting in her head, waiting for 100.
Finally Arcanum stopped, and she felt the cool gel being kneaded into her ass as well, instantly relieving her of the pain. Next, he unceremoniously pushed the plug inside of her, turning it on as well.
“Turn around, and assume the wait position,” Arcanum ordered.
Emma and Hermione quickly got into position before the collar buzzed as the plugs filled their asses. The last thing either of them wanted was another spanking.
“Good,” Arcanum said as he walked around them. “Perhaps a little faster next time, but your form is perfect,” he complimented.
Arcanum then pulled out another two vials of potion. He first held it to Hermione’s lips and then to Emma’s. Both of them drank down the now familiar nutritional potion.
“Mr. Potter will take a more active role in your training starting tomorrow, and you will follow his instructions to the letter, just as if I was the one giving the orders,” Arcanum explained.
Hermione and Emma looked at each other, wondering what humiliation Arcanum planned for them next.
“It’s nothing for you two to worry about. Get some rest. It will be a long day tomorrow,” Arcanum said as he left for the night.
Hermione and Emma had an uneasy night, wondering what was going to happen next, and what Arcanum would make Harry do to them.