"Oh really?" Penny had a smirk of her own now. A sparking orange spell appeared in her raised hand. "Well, since you asked for it…" With that Penny launched the crackling orange ball at Harry. She blinked in shock when Harry batted the spell aside and into the stone wall.
"Was that all?" Harry asked cheekily and Penny blinked at what her boyfriend had just done.
"How? You didn't even use a spell!" Penny was confused, to say the least. "I didn't see any Magic use at all, in fact… What are those?"
"Remember how I was working on the Spell Ward Array?" Harry asked innocently. "Well, after I made it work for Aethereum's scabbard, I was able to apply it to Magical Iron with only a few changes to the overall Array. These are the first successful prototypes, 'Spell Ward Guards' as I've taken to calling them."
"So spells just bounce off them?" Penny blinked as she walked over to look at the prototype closer.
"Not so much 'bounce off' as they simply stop spells from activating their effects." Harry explained as Penny looked over the guards. "A spell imparts its effects upon contact with a target, right?" Penny nodded in agreement. "What the Spell Ward Array does, is keeping the flying spell from activating and lets me redirect it elsewhere, like I did with yours."
"Hence the 'Ward' part of the name." Penny realized as she smiled at Harry.
"Yep, it 'wards off' spells, rather than blocking them or destroying them." Harry grinned happily at his prototypes. "I was going to try and use this Array on a small Charm like a bracelet or locket, but it's has diminishing returns based on the size of the item. The smaller the Item the weaker the effect; unfortunately, if my Arithmancy and Rune Theory is correct, too large of an Item will also spread the 'Spell Ward' too thin to be of any real use. It's quite the conundrum, but it's a non-static Array, so that might be the issue in and of itself."
"They're still impressive, Harry." Penny assured him as she looked the guards over a bit more. "Are you going to market these to the Aurors as well?"
"Probably not," Harry shook his head. Seeing Penny's confusion he explained. "The Auror Batons are good for enforcing the Law without pulling wands right off the bat. It's good for the Aurors to have an option that isn't capable of lethal force. Tonks has told me that the Auror Corps reputation has been on the rise since they made the Batons standard issue. But, if a Baton or two fell into the wrong hands, it wouldn't be good, but it also wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen."
"I think I get where you're going with this," Penny looked contemplative. "The 'Spell Ward' would make anyone wearing them impervious to most spells so long as they're facing them head-on. If they fell into the wrong hands then even the Aurors might not be able to deal with the Wizard or Witch that has them."
"Exactly," Harry nodded with a small smile. "Letting these get out into the open market would probably make Potter & Erdunn Creations a fortune, but the risk of them being misused is so high that no amount of money is worth the potential problems they could bring."
"I agree, just the thought of some Dark Wizard or Witch being impervious to most spells is already making my stomach turn." Penny shook her head to rid her mind of the image. "If they work though, why are you still calling them prototypes?"
"Because I want them to be gauntlets when they're done." Harry grinned at her. "But articulated metal is hard to do. I'm still practicing it with regular iron right now; progress is kind of slow going."
"I'm sure you'll learn it and master it eventually, Harry." Penny leaned in and pecked his lips. "You always do." Harry smiled warmly at her as he took off the 'Spell Ward Guards' and placed them back on the shelf he got them from.
"Thank you, Penny." Harry hugged his girlfriend gently. Penny smiled as she returned the hug and even placed a kiss on top of Harry's head.
"What happened with your 'Mana Bane' idea?" Penny asked curiously as they pulled away. "I haven't heard you talk about it in a bit."
"That's mostly worked out." Harry answered as he moved over to the worktable and pulled open the locked and sealed bottom drawer. From the drawer, Harry pulled out a length of chain. It was coiled up, so Penny couldn't guess at the exact length. It looked like a simple length of chain to her. "The Control Sequence works now, but I'd like to make it better when I can. The movements are still kind of stiff." To demonstrate Harry held one end of the length of chain; the rest fell to the floor for a moment before seeming to float when Harry focused.
"It floats…" Penny trailed off as she looked at the curiosity.
"Yeah, it floats when you know how to activate it." Harry chuckled before, with a flick of his wrist, the end of the chain he wasn't holding shot towards her. Penny yelped as the chain encircled her and then tightened its hold.
"Harry!" Penny yelped at him. The Artificer just chuckled as Penny tried to use her Magic and found she couldn't. "Hey, let me go, Mister!"
"As you can see," Harry continued as if she hadn't said anything. "Once it wraps around you, you can't use your Magic to form spells. The speed is decent, but the current 'Control Sequence' can only do simple maneuvers. I can't make it wind around multiple targets, for instance, nor could I make it take on a certain shape and hold it. So at the moment, the chains are best used for quick captures and restraint."
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