Don’t get me wrong. Dear J.K. Rowling didn’t exactly disappoint us, but the thing is…we missed being able to laugh at Ron Weasley’s sarcastic jokes because we were too busy crying for more than half a dozen characters who lose their lives.

After every sweet, funny moment, something sorrowful (like death) comes up. Right in the beginning, Hedwig is turned into Owl-kebab by a death eater (no idea, why). Some downright bizarre things happen—the previously shy and awkward (and not to mention, more realistic) Neville Longbottom has been turned into someone we can’t recognise. Millions of fans had been brimming with curiosity from the day of Harry Potter I, to know what would be the end of our hero. There were some people who thought he would die and some who actually wanted him dead—just for the sake of a twist.

However, the author’s sincere attempt not to disappoint those who wanted Harry dead as well as those who wanted him to survive is sort of weak. Harry Potter does die but miraculously comes alive to have one final face-to-face with Lord Voldemort at Hogwarts. The author seems to have come up with a brilliant script rather than a brilliant book.

Nayana Gupta, Class XI, Ranchi

With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows finally within my reach, I grasped it tightly and flipped through the pages to come to the last line, which said: “The scar had not pained Harry for 19 years. All was well.” And I heaved a sigh of relief coming to know that, in the end, all was well. Not waiting a second and reading vigorously, I finally finished the book, which at times I felt was going too slow and revolving too much around Harry, Ron and Hermione and not around destroying the horcruxes. But, in the end, good triumphed over evil. Harry was successful in finally destroying the horcruxes (the last one was within Harry, which was destroyed by Voldemort himself) and then the houses of Hogwarts came together, to defeat the hooded Death Eaters. I will always remember Harry Potter as a part of me, growing up with him in those 10 years.

Tanvi Mathur, Class VIII, Sacred Heart Convent School, Jamshedpur

So the last book of the phenomenon called Pottermania is out. And I am really angry about it. It is not because the book is out that I am angry. It is at the tantrum surrounding the book’s release. The scar bearing bespectacled wizard has held us in awe for over a decade.

Rowling had done only too well to guard any (and every) secret and supposition about the book. All Potter fans like me had waited more than anxiously for the book. And we never complained of not getting any clues because we enjoyed the thrilling suspense!

As soon as the book was out, all of us had our heads buried in it, eager to reach the end. But suddenly, there were news channels screaming out aloud about what happens when the book ends! How very outrageous! Is there no other news left for them to cover?

Like me there were many people frustrated by this. Some newspapers did it, too. Fortunately though, when I opened The Telegraph next day, it was not the same case.

The paper had covered the release but not disclosed major happenings. On the other hand in Calcutta and many other cities there were numerous bookshops organising quizzes and competitions to promote the book. And they did not disclose anything about the book. That’s healthy interaction.

Rohit Rohan, Jamshedpur