So important has Barry become to the school's reputation - not to say finances - that it has been agreed that he can stay at Hogwash for as long as he likes. Barry Trotter is 22.
Life is good for the perpetual student. He doesn't have to do any work and the wizard pipe he bought in London's Catty Corner lends him the air of mystery and maturity required to impress girls (well, Muddle girls . . . well, stupid ones).
But now disaster looms. The movie Barry Trotter and the Inevitable Attempt to Cash-Inhas gone into final production and the marketing machine at Wagner Bros. is going into overdrive. Hogwash is going to be submerged under a tidal of souvenir-crazed Muddle fans, torn apart and sold on eBay, stone by mossy stone.