A Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part II poster

Guwahati, July 15: The thought struck him suddenly, leaving him numb. He realised there was now a deep void in his life... something he had lived with for over a decade was gone. Voldemort, whom Apu Nath had grown up hating, was dead and buried, thanks to a rebounding Avada Kedavra, the death curse; Harry Potter was gone too, the final bow coming in Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part II.

“I had already read the book, so I knew what to expect, but I still can’t come to terms with the fact that Potter and Voldemort have gone out of my life,” Apu, 18, said while coming out of a multiplex.

For the few yet uninitiated into the now-extinct world of Harry Potter, his story revolves round how he discovers that as a child he witnessed his parents’ murder by the evil dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, who then attempted to kill him too.

The spell with which the Dark Lord tried to kill Harry rebounded. Harry survived with only a scar on his forehead and Voldemort went into hiding.

Harry’s quest for Voldemort, whose aim was to conquer the wizarding world and crush all non-magical people, began. He vowed to destroy all those who would stand in his way, especially Harry.

It was not to be, though, and in the end it was Voldemort who lay vanquished — a moment that the audience was waiting for. When it finally happened they applauded heartily.

“We have held Harry Potter’s hand through our adolescence and into adulthood,” Apu said.

Expectedly, the film opened to a packed house, but not before the queue for tickets witnessed some jostling, with people trying all the necessary tricks to jump it. They were all there — from 16 to 60, as they laughed and cried together through Harry Potter’s final journey. Pottermania had Guwahati in its grip for one last time.

Sixty-six year-old Madhurima Mahanta, who had come to see the film with her grandson Biswajit, was introduced to Potter by him. A retired government employee, she, too, was sad that the wizard world was finally no more. “In 1999, my grandson had gifted me Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I was impressed by the whole set-up, which got me hooked. Since then I’ve been following it religiously. In fact, we have been watching most of the Harry Potter movies together,” a nostalgic Madhurima said.

“Thank you Harry Potter for making my life magical,” Anushka Barua, a masters student in political science, exclaimed.

All of them though are pinning their hopes on the creator of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, to actually do what she has only hinted at: return with Harry Potter. That’s where “it all ends”.