Facebook's Secret Harry Potter Spells Will Make You Feel Like A Wizard

If there's one thing Harry Potter fans love, it's any excuse to celebrate, talk about, obsess over and revel in their love for the series. With today's 20th Anniversary of the publication of the first book, we're all doing just that. And social media is definitely getting in on the action with these Facebook Harry Potter spells.

Other social media sites have captured the magic, too: Twitter has created a special emoji for the occasion, an adorable recreation of Harry's famous glasses and lightning bolt scar, which you can use on any tweet you'd like. Snapchat has put their Harry Potter filter back into rotation, if you've ever wanted to know what you'd look like with a scar, green eyes and round black glasses. But it's Facebook who has really gotten into the magical spirit of things today, by allowing users to cast interactive spells with nothing more than a simple status update.

Just use any of the terms Harry Potter, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin in a status update will display an animation of a wand casting a spell. When posted, the words related to Harry Potter will be highlighted with a different color... and each of the house names will show up with the color of their house. You can also click on the word again to replay it, which, OK, might put on a damper on your productivity at work today, but I digress.

And the fun doesn't end there. If you're an Android phone user, you can also activate certain features using Harry Potter spells. Say "Lumos", "Nox" or "Silencio" to the Google Assistant to activate the flashlight or to turn on silent mode. Genius. You'll never feel more like a proper wizard than you will today, and you didn't even have to endure the chill of Snape's dungeons to get there.