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It was a manic morning of magic yesterday for thousands of Kiwi fans of the Harry Potter series, as the seventh and final book finally hit the shelves - at 11.01am.
After weeks of speculation about what the book would reveal, bookshops around the country reported queues of people awaiting the official release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which is expected to sell 300 million copies worldwide.
Borders' regional manager, Justin Barratt, said there were 150 people outside the capital's Lambton Quay store in Wellington when it opened at 8am.
The fans were kept occupied by magicians and face painters, until the clock ticked to the bewitching hour.
In Auckland, a large crowd of people - both adults and children - waited inside the Whitcoulls Queen St store for JK Rowling's final masterpiece to appear, 10 years after the first book was published.
The Blackman family, with mum Tim and daughters Alice and Manon dressed up in witch costumes. Manon said they had been waiting for a long time for the book to be released, and had gone to bed excited the night before.
"We woke up this morning and thought 'Yay!'." Both girls were tempted to read the last pages to find out what happened in the end.
"It's a phenomenal time to be alive, really, isn't it?" Tim said. "There hasn't been something like this in my lifetime, everyone waiting for the last of a series, it's amazing. Just the fact that Rowling has crafted this story that has kept people so interested."
At Sylvia Park in Auckland, Paper Plus hosted a launch which included a special train ride from Britomart to the mall, for 250 fans dressed for the spectacle.
- additional reporting NZPA
