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Harry Potter gets a Facebook Easter egg with this easy spell

No wand required -- just type the magic words.

Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.
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Alohomora: Easter egg unlocked.

 Screenshot/Katie Collins

Do you solemnly swear you're up to no good? If so, Facebook has a treat in store for you.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (or the Sorcerer's Stone, if you're in the US), the social network on Monday planted a magical Easter egg for fans to pounce upon like a seeker upon the snitch.

Post a Harry Potter-related status update and you might see a magic wand appear casting a spell over your text. But pay heed to what you type. As Professor Dumbledore himself once said: "Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic."

The Easter egg is activated if you include the words "Harry Potter," "Gryffindor," "Ravenclaw," "Hufflepuff" or "Slytherin" in your status update. Those house names will show up in house colors. 

Click the wand again, and the magic will never stop. 

Mischief managed.