It might have seemed like fantasy when we read about it in Harry Potter, but a real-life invisibility cloak has been unveiled.

In a paper published by John and Benjamin Howell at the University of Rochester in New York, they demonstrate how optics and mirrors can scale to create a cloak of invisibility for humans and potentially satellites!

“This volume is sufficient to cloak a human, albeit with not as much convenience as Harry Potter’s cloak,” the Howells explain.

By using mirrors to create a directional reflection, the Howells have managed to create an object not unlike one of Harry’s deathly hallows.

The one problem the Howells have run in to however is that when viewed from a different direction, the cloak gives up its secret:

These cloaks aren’t perfect by any means. In fact there is one very significant caveat in their design — they only work in one direction. View these cloaks from anything other than this direction and the ruse is quickly revealed.

Though this may not have the comfort of a full-fledged cloak like we’ve read about and seen on the big screen through the years, it is a significant advancement in the possibility of us one day being able to sneak around libraries pretending to be Harry! By the way has anyone started working on a real-life Time Turner yet?

How would you use your very own functioning invisibility cloak?