Fans can’t believe Tracy Beaker actor Dani Harmer was in Harry Potter

Fans were flummoxed to find out that former Tracy Beaker actor Dani Harmer featured as an extra in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

It's been twenty years since The Story of Tracy Beaker aired on after-school CBBC TV, based on author Jacqueline Wilson's children's book, first published in 1991.

The show tells the story of 13-year-old Tracy Beaker, growing up in Elm Tree House for children - which is better known as the Dumping Ground. She longs for a home and loving family, and for a while seems to have found a foster mum in Cam Lawson. But ultimately, it's Tracy's feisty, fun and fearless character which shines through, as she makes plenty of mischief and friends wherever she goes.

Now, to the delight of fans, it's been revealed that Harmer also played very small a part in the first ever Harry Potter film, released in 2001.

Alongside a clip of the sorting hat scene from the popular wizarding film franchise, a fan tweeted: "I think I found @DaniHarmer in Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone, she is behind Oliver Wood after Hermione speaks"

The actress retweeted, and replied: "Yep there I am xx"

One person commented: "this blows my mind".

Another added: "how many times have I watched this film and never noticed omg"

Someone else said: "Imagine swapping the lives of Harry Potter and Tracey Beaker, I think Beaker would have handled the Dursleys and Potter would've preferred the dumping ground."

However, it's not the first time a fan has noticed her stay at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; in 2016, the actor retweeted a photo of herself as a teen alongside a Harry Potter screen grab from Comedy Central, tweeting: "If you squint your eyes you can see me in the sorting hat scene."

She might not have made it to the final cut, but regardless Harmer remains much revered and loved for her portrayal of the curly-haired teen Tracy Baker, and to this day remains hounded with the character's infamous catchphrase 'Bog Off'

The first CBBC series aired in 2002 with the last, Tracy Beaker Returns, in 2012. But now the Berkshire-born actress is returning to TV screens in the three-part spin-off drama My Mum Tracy Beaker, which follows a grown-up Tracy and her 11-year-old daughter Jess.

When asked about returning to play Tracy Beaker, she told The Radio Times: "I just think I was like everyone else – I was just a bit of fan. I just really wanted to know what Tracy was up to, where she was going, what was happening with her.”

The actress will also be reuniting with some of her co-stars from The Story of Tracy Beaker days, with Lisa Coleman, who played Tracy’s foster mum Cam, and Bridgerton‘s Ruth Gemmell, who was Tracy’s birth mother Carly, appearing in the upcoming series.