They craned up to see Merlin’s cloud wisp crossing over the towering school gates, about to abscond safely into the Woods. Aghast, Tedros unleashed a two-fingered whistle—

Merlin flicked back a dismissive smile, only to see the caboose of his train missing and Tedros and Agatha on the ground inside the school gates.

“The wand, Merlin!” Agatha hollered. “Use Dovey’s wand!”

Merlin frantically pulled off his hat, rifling through it and yanking out champagne bottles, throw pillows, an empty birdcage—

“God help us,” Tedros breathed.

Agatha looked back and saw Captain Hook, Jack’s giant, and Red Riding Hood’s wolf closing in on Sophie, the latter’s jaws snapping at her behind.

“Aggggieee . . . I’m hallllluccinnattinnggg!” Sophie squealed. “Therrre’sss faaamous villlainnssss chassinngggg meeeee!!!”

Agatha whipped back to Merlin. “Hurry, Merlin!”

The wizard pulled out a bowl of cashews, a chain of rainbow Christmas lights—“Oooh, these are lovely!”—before he heard Sophie’s screams and glimpsed the wolf rip the hem of her dress as Sophie skidded towards her best friends, who were still trapped behind the gates.

Pursing his lips, Merlin dug deeper into his hat, his arm all the way in, and fished out Professor Dovey’s wand with a relieved smile. “Goodness, this really should come with a case.”

“MERLIN!” Agatha screeched.

Merlin wheeled and stabbed Dovey’s wand at the glowing green gates, which slid open on command—

Tedros swept Agatha through in his arms and they collapsed together face-first into dirt.

“Close the gates!” Tedros wheezed at Merlin.

“No!” Agatha yelled.

Because Sophie was still bungling towards the opening, the wolf shredding more of her clothes with every second, and the rest of the villain army nipping at the wolf’s heels, poised to stampede through the gate with Sophie. “DON’T STAND THERE LIKE LUMPS!” she shrieked at her friends. “DOOOO SOMETHINGGGG!”

Tedros drew his sword, but it was shaking in his hand. “There’s too many of them!” he said to Agatha, watching Merlin awkwardly trying to turn his cloud around. “They’ll tear us apart!”

Agatha saw Merlin flash the same panicked expression, because the prince was right. By the time Merlin turned, the villains would be picking their bones. The three of them needed a place to disappear . . . a place the villains couldn’t get to . . . a cave or a tunnel or a—

“Wait!” she cried, waving at the wizard. “Your cloak!”

This time, Merlin understood. He stripped off his purple robe, hurled it into the air like a kite, and with Dovey’s wand, shot it down like a comet into Agatha’s hands.

Standing in the gate opening, Agatha flung open Merlin’s cloak like a bullfighter, the childish stitching of a night sky shimmering in the moonlight. She and Tedros climbed into the wizard’s cloak, half their bodies magically disappearing into the silk, before the two Evers gripped on to the collar with both hands, like miners about to drop into a cave.

“Sophie, hurry!” Agatha shouted, holding open the cloak lining.

Sophie staggered through grass towards the gate opening, the wolf clawing into her petticoat, a giant about to throttle her from the left, Captain Hook hacking at her from the right—