Return to Halloweentown

One year after the previous film, Marnie is offered a full scholarship to Halloweentown's Witch University for her good deeds. She decides to enroll despite Gwen's dismay, and Gwen forces Dylan to accompany her to keep an eye on her. This new chapter sets the stage for a non-magical academic life and a complicated family dynamic.

Magic is banned on campus to level the playing field, so classes feel like mortal college courses rather than spellcasting. Marnie grows crestfallen, realizing she won't learn to use her powers anytime soon. She also runs into her old friend Ethan and meets Aneesa the Genie, foreshadowing trouble ahead.

During a class with Dr. Ichabod Grogg, a box inscribed with 'S. Cromwell' mysteriously materializes in the dungeon and sits locked with no key, sparking questions about its origin. Marnie senses the box's significance and mystery. The discovery heightens the sense that powerful forces are at play within the university.

Miss Periwinkle explains that the S stands for Splendora, a former close ally, and that the box contains the Gift—a power witches are forbidden to wield. She notes that the Gift can tempt its user toward darkness and could alter the balance of power on campus.

In a journey to the past, Marnie meets Splendora, who explains that the Gift is an amulet capable of controlling anyone. The power could tempt a good witch to turn bad. Splendora is revealed to be Marnie's grandmother Aggie, and she gives Marnie the key to the box.

Marnie returns to the present with the key to the box, preparing to unlock the Gift's power while remaining wary of its temptation. The key signifies a path to potential control that she must navigate carefully. The moment marks a turning point in her understanding of responsibility and power.

Dr. Goodwyn steals the Gift for the Dominion, and the Sinister Sisters use Dylan as bait to force Marnie into cooperating. They threaten to leave Dylan a Border Collie forever unless Marnie agrees to help them control Witch University and Halloweentown, with a midnight deadline.

Marnie initially succumbs to the pressure and uses the Gift to manipulate people at Witch University. Aneesa the Genie helps by trapping the Gift inside her magical lamp, aiming to keep its power contained. The trap becomes a pivotal turn in the struggle over the Gift.

The Dominion makes a last-ditch escape attempt but is thwarted by Periwinkle, who is revealed to be an undercover detective of the Halloweentown Anti-Dominion League for centuries. They are imprisoned in a Witch's Glass and stripped of their magic, arrested for treason.

The Sinister Sisters lose their powers, and Ethan reveals he willingly gave up his own abilities after his father’s guilt in the previous film. Marnie and Ethan begin a new relationship and head out on a date, choosing to focus on their connection amid the turmoil.

Marnie confides in Gwen that she did not destroy the Gift but entrusted it to someone she absolutely trusts. This secret hints at a carefully guarded plan to safeguard the Gift and keep it out of Dominion hands.

In the film’s endgame, Dylan discovers the Gift waiting for him inside a book Marnie left for him. He learns that he is its rightful bearer and contemplates its power, deciding to store it away for important uses rather than wield it recklessly.

The final scene shows a glowing red S on the page, signaling that Dylan now holds the Gift and will wield its power with restraint. The moment closes the loop on power, trust, and responsibility for the Crook family in Halloweentown.