"Expecto Patronum!" yelled the boy with the black, horn-rimmed glasses and familiar scar.
With a swoop of his wand, the dementor slowly backed away.
No, it wasn't Harry Potter who cast the dementor-repelling spell. It was none other than a muggle, Caleb Mattoon, who performed it in front of a crowd of people - albeit, with a fake wand and a boldly drawn scar.
"I got (the spell) from number three," the 8-year-old from Perry proudly said, referring to the third Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." "I'm reading 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' now."
Mattoon, along with about 3,000 children, joined in the festivities of Potterpalooza Friday night, celebrated in downtown Williamston, in anticipation for the midnight release of the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter book series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
"An 8-year-old reading a book three inches thick is pretty awesome," said Mattoon's mother, Angela.
Tuesday Books, 137 West Grand River Ave., put on the event for the second time. The first time was for the release of the sixth Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
By the end of night, Tuesday Books had sold 300 Harry Potter books, said Theresa Grossman, co-owner of Tuesday Books.
"It was positive, fun and enthusiastic," Grossman said. "It was really amazing. I am absolutely thrilled."
Businesses transformed their stores and services into shops that Harry Potter and friends would frequent in the book.
Witches, wizards, muggles - and maybe even a squib, or two - gathered together in McCormick Park and the surrounding area to partake in muggle quidditch, purchase butterbeer from the Leaky Cauldron (Cappuccino Expresso) or receive a spellbinding makeover at Potions and Ponytails Salon (Nu Concept), among a variety of other activities.
"The best part is the costumes and seeing how excited (the children) are to read a book," said Gina Ghinelli, owner of Ghinelli's Homemade Candy & Ice Cream, 147 South Putnam St., which assumed the role of Honeydukes, the candy shop in Harry Potter.
"I think they forget they are educating themselves at the same time," she added.
One such fanatic, Elizabeth Beckett of East Lansing, sported radish earrings and a butterbeer cork necklace in order to portray Luna Lovegood, a character from the Harry Potter series. The 11-year-old went as far as keeping pudding in her purse - Luna Lovegood's favorite treat - as well as crafting her own handmade copy of "The Quibbler," a magazine Luna Lovegood's father is the editor of in the series.
"I'm usually Hermione, but I just wanted to try something new," Beckett said. "My mom thought the earrings and necklace would pull it off."
Beckett has read all of the books so far and was excited to read the last one.
"I kind of got hooked on it. It's so exciting to have a boy hero," she said. "There are so many people helping him. It's just fun."
