The hero of this fantasy is a young boy who was orphaned as a baby when his parents were killed. Since then he had lived a miserable life with his cruel aunt and uncle. However, upon his eleventh birthday, the boy learns both that his parents were important and powerful wizards, and that he has been invited to attend a prestigious boarding school for young wizards. Once at the school, the boy makes two close friends, and he discovers that one of the instructors is an evil wizard. He begins to piece together the mystery of his parents' deaths. It turns out that the evil wizard killed the boy's parents, and he is determined to destroy the boy as well. Together the boy and his friends set out to find a secret, powerful object at the school before the evil wizard finds it.