Uncle Mortimer patted
his cheek. "I wish gunpowder had been around when I was your age. It's quite
the thing to make messes when you're only 100 years old. When you're pushing nine
centuries, well, you have to pretend to have some dignity."
"Especially when
your cloaking spells aren't what they used to be and you can't hide the evidence,"
Hera-Jane added. "Uncle Morty...the Chinese had gunpowder back when you were
a child."
"Hmm, yes, but the
Asian Fae Enclaves were quite isolationist back then. They wouldn't share anything,
least of all such clever Human toys." Their wild-haired uncle nodded once more
for punctuation. "Quite all right now, lad? Back to normal?"
"Close enough. How
much can you see me?" Harry asked.
"Not a speck. We
can smell you, though." His sister sat back and wrinkled up her nose. "Well,
are you any closer to success?"
"I think so. Not
much, but at least I didn't trip any of the fire suppression and reconstruction
spells." Harry allowed himself a few flickers of triumph over that, before
diving into the new puzzle. "You say I was visible when I was unconscious?"
"Something disrupted
the invisibility spell for a little while. It just proves my theory that the malfunction
lies in the Ether connection that powers this particular invisibility spell. You
need more research, lad." Uncle Mortimer slapped in the general direction of
Harry's invisible shoulder and heaved himself to his feet. Chuckling, he tottered
out of the laboratory. Standard housecleaning spells had cleared the damage while
they talked.
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