“Horcrux hunt is on!” tweeted Twitter user pinksteele83 in preparation for the evening.

The Twitter news feeds of Sacramento users were flooded with similar tweets Thursday night as nearly 100 locals participated in the Harry Potter Horcrux Hunt organized by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and Esquire IMAX Theatre.

Participants met at the Downtown Ice Rink at 7th and K streets at 8 p.m. They received seven clues about the location of the horcruxes, the objects that contain a fraction of the evil Lord Voldemort’s soul for which Harry Potter is deemed responsible to destroy in the new film “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”. Hunters roamed downtown to find Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem and six other horcruxes dispersed among participating businesses. Along with discovering the horcrux, players picked up coupons from each destination.

The scavenger hunt garnered national attention due in large part to its unique social media aspect. Participants were required to have at least one smart phone on each team and a Twitter account. QR barcodes were attached to each horcrux, which participants scanned using a mobile application that automatically tweeted their location and their conquest.

“Apologies in advance for excess nerd-tweeting while I get my horcrux hunt on,” tweeted Twitter user Spoonzine.

Other participants, including those aptly dressed in robes and pointed hats, were less abashed at flaunting their fandom.

Twitter user jlautsch tweeted, “I’ve found Nagini at Crest Theatre” and posed for a picture with the snake horcrux draped around her neck.

The hunt culminated at 11 p.m. at Esquire IMAX Theatre in time for the sold out midnight movie premiere. Those who found all seven objects were entered to win a grand prize of an Esquire IMAX party for 10 and gift cards to the participating scavenger hunt venues, which was won by Adam Gothard. Other raffle winners received Harry Potter posters and T-shirts, and all received Harry Potter temporary tattoos.

“This promotion was so cutting edge,” said Doug Link, Esquire IMAX’s Theatre Director and Senior Consultant. “We had hundreds of Twitter and Facebook posts from participants.”