Magic spread like sunrise across the whole country.

The grim grey clothes made mandatory by the Sensible Party were quickly replaced with enchanted outfits that shimmered and sparkled and glowed as everyone put on their happiest apparel to welcome magic back. Faces changed with the clothes: expressions became brighter and more joyful. Singing could be heard in the streets.

In the explosion of enthusiasm that followed the restoration of Maker magic, magical delight broke out everywhere. This delight turned, in places, to chaos. There were reports of some home-made Gambolling Garters running away with their owner across Shortgrove Park, and of a High-Spirits Hat (made by an enthusiastic dabbler using too many Giddy Geraniums) floating with its owner over Cambridge.

Dozens of similar incidents kept the Makers extremely busy rushing around the country fixing things. They would gasp out explanations about balancing ingredients and weighing principles – rules of Making that the public could be forgiven for having forgotten over the last two hundred and fifty years – before dashing off to rescue the next amateur cloakmaker who was being squeezed inside a cape made using too much Snug Grass.

When someone tinkered with the organ in St Paul’s Cathedral so that it filled the entire dome with giant musical bubbles, and sets of furniture began fighting in the streets of Liverpool, and an entire nunnery in Hull came down with fire-breathing hiccups, nobody could deny that something had to be done.

The Maker families met with Parliament to discuss how they could manage the magic to stop it from running wild. Cordelia, inspired by her time teaching the Troublemakers on Soulhaven, made a very important suggestion.

So when Parliament voted again on magic being free for all, they made one important amendment …

Meanwhile, Cordelia, it turned out, did have an opportunity to make amends in London. She did so with the help of the newly hatched Sea Dragon, whom the Troublemakers had voted to name Flash, after the flash of fire it had hiccupped that had defeated the admiral.

Turbidus Vines had taken root in the city – in St James’s Park, at Hatmaker House, and even stretching from floor to ceiling in Parliament. They had sprouted wherever trouble had happened, and quickly grown out of control.

The royal gardeners tried everything, but nothing they did could stop the Turbidus Vines growing. They’d tried cutting them back with shears, sharp knives, scissors and swords, but every time they trimmed, cut or slashed, the vines grew back with more feisty determination than ever.

A swathe of the park was now too dangerous to go near and the politicians had simply closed the door on Parliament and let the Turbidus Vines go wild. Meanwhile, leaves could be seen crowding at the windows of Hatmaker House. The building was bursting with vines, and there was no way to get rid of them. Even asking politely was, at this stage, too little too late.

However, it turned out, the only food that the baby Flash would eat was Turbidus Vines.

Cordelia discovered this when the tiny white dragon began munching on the vines that had taken root in the British Museum. As Flash ate, she grew. And as she grew, she began to change colour.

‘I think perhaps the more they eat, the more colours they’re able to make,’ Cordelia mused, watching Flash gnaw through the roots in the floor of the museum and turn an appreciative shade of pink.

The next day, she and Thorn took Flash to St James’s Park, where she enthusiastically ate her way through the dense jungle blocking the promenade. By the time the vines had been devoured, the Sea Dragon was larger than a wolfhound and could turn her scales an impressive array of greens, from soft sage to vibrant emerald.

By the end of the week, Flash had worked her way through all the vines crowding Hatmaker House, and managed scarlet, ruby and crimson, as well as royal blue.

After Flash sauntered out, glowing indigo and the size of a carthorse, the Hatmakers ventured back into their house. Cordelia was shocked to find the rafters of her beloved home groaning, the stone walls crumbling. Hatmaker House was in serious need of repair.

All the Makers converged on the building, bringing their tools and determination. Thankfully, the king had ordered the immediate return of their confiscated ingredients, so the Makers were able to patch up walls with strong starlight and repair roof beams with Soulhope wood taken from the felled tree that had once stood proud on Soulhaven. They even replaced broken roof tiles with some of Rainbow’s scales. Although the noble Rainbow had died and her scales had fallen grey, when they were gently slotted into the roof of Hatmaker House they began to glow multiple colours again. Every time Cordelia looked up at the roof patched with colour-changing scales, she was reminded of the beautiful Sea Dragon.

When Hatmaker House was finished, it had been fixed up with the love and care of all the Makers of London. This made the house more magical than ever, and walking within its walls felt like being cocooned in magic.

Next, Cordelia, Thorn and the Troublemakers took Flash into Parliament. She systematically chewed her way along the single vine that had begun as the seed in the infamous Mind-Changing Tricorn Cordelia had made for the king. Now the vine stretched from floor to ceiling. Flash turned purple as she finished it, and Cordelia felt she had finally made up for her naughty Meddling hat.

When the Guildhall was reopened, the Menacing Cabinet was found to have a tendril curling cheekily out from under its door. Thorn, who could no longer wear Flash draped around her shoulders because she was so big, led her through the doors of the Guildhall.

‘These must be the last Turbidus Vines in London,’ Cordelia told Thorn, saving some Turbidus seeds in an empty jar before the ravenous Sea Dragon could devour them. ‘You’ll need these seeds to grow new vines to feed Flash!’

Thorn turned to gaze up at the dome of the Guildhall’s Great Chamber.

‘The others are all safe now, either back with their families or living with Ambrosius,’ she said.

Master Ambrosius – who, thanks to Princess Georgina’s insistence, had been let out of the Clink an hour after the king had pardoned the Troublemakers – had immediately taken in Shelly, Jim and Thorn, whose parents had all refused to have ‘dangerous Makers’ under their roofs.

‘But Flash is getting too big for Master Ambrosius’s little house,’ Thorn added.

Master Ambrosius had found the presence of a marvellous creature that changed colour at will to be highly useful in attracting customers to his newly reopened sweetshop. People bought Air-Walking Pralines and Carolling Caramels, Loftus Nougat and Whistling Candies, and stood with their noses pressed against the window, waiting for Flash to change colour. Indeed, although the other Makers’ shops had all filled up with magical goods again, and the chocolate houses had all reopened to general delight, Master Ambrosius’s Emporium was proving the most popular spot of the lot.

Sir Hugo had even admitted a bit of jealousy about how much attention Flash had attracted during her short stay in Piccadilly. Cordelia tried to persuade him that his idea of roping the creature into his latest exuberant version of The Tempest was not wise. ‘She’s a wild creature,’ she had pointed out. ‘She doesn’t belong on the stage. She belongs in the ocean and in the jungle on the island …’

Thorn, Cordelia could instinctively feel, believed the same thing.

‘She needs to go back to Soulhaven,’ Thorn said, as they stood in the Great Chamber. ‘That’s where she belongs.’

Cordelia knew that Thorn wasn’t just talking about the Sea Dragon. A lump rose in her throat at the thought of Thorn and Flash sailing away.

‘We’ll linger a little longer,’ Thorn told Cordelia, seeing the Hatmaker’s eyes brighten with tears. ‘Besides, I need at least one more lesson from an actual Maker from the Guildhall …’