Magically-gifted Charlie Bone, accompanied by his best friend's dog, Runner Bean, comes to the rescue when the enchanter Count Harken takes revenge on the Red King's heirs by kidnapping and imprisoning Charlie's ancestors in the dark, forbidding land of Badlock.
When Asa Pike, a Bloor's Academy student with the ability to change into a beast at dusk, goes missing, twelve-year-old Charlie Bone suspects a new classmate, the magically gifted Dagobert Endless, of foul play.
Charlie Bone awakes one morning to find the city covered with snow and all the animals gone. Where have they gone - and why? Blessed the dog tells Billy there was a terrible shuddering of the earth and immediately after, he saw a witch with two shadows crossing the hall in the Bloor's Academy.
Charlie and his magically gifted friends and relatives work together to rescue Billy Raven, a young orphan, from a mysterious and dangerous couple who have adopted him.
