[ at the mention of surprise, he smiles. eliot always loves giving a good surprise. ]

Surprise is certainly an underused weapon of its own. With the right combination, even with physical barriers, there's a lot that could be achieved by undermining expectations.

We're all creatures of habit, after all.

[ which is why pranking is so damn easy and fun using magic, but even if that's not the main aim here, eliot's had plenty of practice with that side of things to know what people tend to not expect. ]