The first book in the award-winning Flemish Young Adult series, now available in English Tim de Wilde has an affinity for numbers, a skill which brings him to the attention of the secretive WITCH school -- the Wonderful Institute for Terrific CHildren -- home to kids with "special" gifts. While Tim finds the students special, the teachers are another matter entirely: another scary matter. Headmaster Lovecraft behaves suspiciously. Handyman Igor skulks around in the background -- and yells at the rainclouds that follow him everywhere. Professor Bones is the worst of all, possessed of a horrible stench that chokes everyone to their needs. But there's something else about the school. A secret that rests in the basement. A secret the students are forbidden to investigate. A secret that intrigues Tim. A secret that will send Tim traveling into the past and force him to confront the strangest mystery of all. Something called The Dark Numbers....