What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I was given this book to learn German while I was overseas. It could technically be YA, Adult or anywhere in between but I have no way to know as it was in German only.

The Plot was where the headmaster ran a school / orphanage and as the oldest and most trained kid there would disappear and a new one would show up. There was some magic involved but much more subtle than Harry Potter. The book covers the main character as he gets brought into the house and as the kids older than him keep disappearing each year he has to figure out what is happening and how to survive by the end of his time there.


SPOILERS



Each older kid would have to duel the owner / headmaster at the end of the year and get a replacement to keep the house / magic in order.

It's been a very long time since I read it, but could it be Krabat/The Satanic Mill?

Wikipedia's description is a bit more detailed: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraba...

Seems correct, I'll have to try and read it to see if it is the one. Thank you so much for the response.

Dan

Here's the Google Books preview of Krabat by Otfried Preußler - Martini's suggestion - https://books.google.com/books?id=5G0... There are different cover images.

Dan, was Krabat the book you were looking for?

Dan, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Dan (OP) was last active on the site in December 2020.