'How can there be wizards on Roundworld?' said Ponder. 'When we know magic doesn't work there?'

'Search me,' said Rincewind. 'Ridcully did say they're useless.'

'And why can't the faculty come back by themselves? They were able to send the bottle! That must have used magic, surely?'

'Why not just go and ask them?' said Rincewind.

'You mean by homing in on the distinctive biothaumic signature of a group of wizards?'

'Well, I was thinking of waiting until something dreadful happened and you going to have a look in the wreckage,' said Rincewind. 'Bui the other stuff would probably work.'

"The omniscope locates them in approximately the 40,002,730,907th century,' said Ponder, staring at the globe. 'I can't get an image. But if we can find a way to the nearest library—'

'Ook!' said the Librarian. And then he ooked some more. He ooked at length, with an occasional eek. Once he thumped his fist on the table. He didn't need to thump the table a second time.

There wasn't, at that point, much in the way of table left to thump.

'He says only very senior librarians can use L-space,' said Rincewind, as the Librarian folded his arms. 'He was quite emphatic. He says it's not to be treated like some kind of magic funfair ride.'

'But it's an order from the Archchancellor!' said Ponder. 'There isn't any other way to get there!'

The Librarian looked a little uncertain at that. Rincewind knew why. It was hard to be an orangutan in Unseen University, and the only way the Librarian had been able to deal with it was by acknowledging Mustrum Ridcully as the alpha male, even though the Archchancellor seldom climbed up to a high place on the rooftops and called mournfully over the city at dawn. This meant that, unlike the other wizards, he found it very hard to shrug off an archchancelloric command. It was a direct, fang-revealing, chest-beating challenge. Rincewind had an idea.