Back at Bloor's Academy after Christmas vacation, Charlie finds himself confronted with a new problem when young Henry Yewbeam, who vanished during a game of marbles in 1916, suddenly appears and needs help to find his family.

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.

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 and the Children of the Red King must call upon all of their strength to defeat the darkness and finally learn the fate of Charlie's family, the evil intentions of the Bloors, what has become of Septimus Bloor's will, and the destiny of the Red King's heirs.