Elspeth looked down at the pumpkin sitting innocuosly on the spot James had been stood in moments ago and nodded to herself contentedly.
"There, nobody would suspect you of intruding on our meal like thar" Elspeth informed James as if he should be grateful of his incredibly realisric disguise "and believe me, my guests would do a lot worse than turn you into a pumpkin if they found you here in human form."
James sat silently without making any reaction, which was inevitable given he was now a large, orange, sentient fruit. He was somehow still able to see, hear, smell and feel the cold, hard kitchen floor beneath him (all of which only served to make his helplessness feel more acute) but moving and communication in any form were no longer options.
"I've set the spell to reverse and restore you to your true form at midnight. Pretty poetic hmm?"
Had James been capable of looking impressed, he still wouldn't have.
"Not feeling too chatty all of a sudden, huh?" Elspeth quipped "Well, I'd better start preparing. I think you'll make a fine centrepiece for the dinner table. Don't worry, you'll be purely decorative. And I don"t want you to feel excluded from the evening!"
James would have felt safer and happier remaining in the kitchen, but he had no way of expressing that preference as he was carried through to the dining room.