We all know that invisibility cloaks can protect Harry Potter from Filch and his cat Mrs. Norris, but now physicists in France and the UK say they may be used to hide buildings from the devastating effects of earthquakes as well.

The result of their research is an “earthquake cloak” that could render objects “invisible” to shocks, storm waves or tsunamis. And they aren’t even Level 8 mages!

How does the cloak work? In order to understand the mechanics, it’s important to know that the seismic waves of an earthquake fall into two main categories: body waves that roll through the Earth, and surface waves that travel, naturally, across the surface. The team’s findings show that controlling body waves would be too complex, but they’ve also concluded that controlling surface waves is possible within the constructs of conventional engineering. This conclusion actually works out quite well since it is surface waves that are more destructive