The story centers around a graduating class of "less-gifted" students in a private Versailles high school. Only a miracle has brought the students this far along, and after a practical joke misfires and the whole school is dynamited, the students are in deep trouble. They have to present themselves in court for their punishment and it could not be worse: If they don't pass their high-school graduation exams, they go to prison!

Daniel Auteuilas Baptiste Lavalle, dit « Bébel »
Michel Galabruas M. Grasset, commissaire de police
Maria Pacômeas Lucie Jumaucourt, directrice du cours Louis XIV, professeur de philosophie
Philippe Taccinias Julien Senquin
Hubert Deschampsas Léon Jumaucourt, professeur des matières scientifiques
Raymond Bussièresas Gaston Pourquier
Étienne Draberas Le père de Julien, docteur en médecine
Tonie Marshallas Catherine Jumaucourt, professeur d'Histoire-Géographie
Richard Bohringeras Le pion lors de l'épreuve de Maths
Françoise Michaudas Caroline Janin, petite amie de Julien
Paul Bonis