He inadvertently released an imprisoned witch-queen named Nimiane, who is determined to rule the cupboard worlds.

In The Chestnut King, Henry's Aunt Dotty, Uncle Frank and cousins from Kansas now live in Badon Hill as well.

In response to Mordecai's disobedience to the emperor, the soldiers capture his family, including Uncle Frank, Henry's mom and his cousins.

Then they set fire to the family's house, leaving Henry's cousin Henrietta and grandmother inside.

Henry helps his grandmother and Henrietta escape through a cupboard portal that takes them back to Kansas.

Leaving Henry's grandmother with Zeke's mom, the three children travel through the cupboard leading to Endor.

The kids find themselves in a crypt with Nimiane's relative, a shape-shifting creature called Nimroth (the maker of the blackstar).

Coradin and the fingerlings pursue the children through the underground tombs of Endor until Henry helps Zeke and Henrietta return to the attic in Kansas.

Back in Badon Hill, Fat Frank — an incompetent fairy who has actually been stripped of his fairyhood — rescues three of the children in Henry's family.

Meanwhile, Uncle Frank and the other captured family members find themselves on a rough and unpleasant sea voyage.

Coradin and the witch-queen's other henchmen capture Uncle Frank's group, forcing Henry to confront Nimiane in her throne room.

This theme is shown powerfully in the climactic final battle with Nimiane, when Henry uses his pitching skills to throw the Blackstar.

[6] It is the combination of his magic and his baseball skills learned in Kansas that allows him to succeed, showing the melding of his old and new identities.

Henry comes to understand that his strength, represented by his dandelion magic, is based on the ability to put down roots and stubbornly survive whatever is thrown at him.