Ricky was still in awe over just how thorough this spell book was. Not only did it have an enormous transformation section, but even the animal subsection went on for pages and pages and pages. It was like a whole bestiary embedded in a spell book. It had all the major animals that would have been known to a witch in the 1600s: Old World animals like deer, wolves, bears, jackals, lions, elephants, tigers, snakes, frogs, lizards, and various fish and birds; some New World animals like turkeys, coyotes, and jaguars; ocean animals like sharks, dolphins, narwhals, squids, jellyfish, seahorses, starfish, octopi and whales; and of course mythical creatures that would have been considered real back in the day, including dragons, unicorns and sea serpents. You name it, and it was there. Insects and worms were in there, organized by type and sub-type. Spiders were in there. Bats, rhinos, crocodiles--the spells went on and on.
Indeed, Ricky was certain that this absolutely must be either a hoax or a real magic book, because animals that couldn't have been known to the author at that time were listed. Nobody knew the coelocanth was still alive, and at that time they hadn't even discovered the fossils. Australian animals that wouldn't be known to the outside world for another century or more were listed in the book: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, thylacines, platypi, and more. Even long-extinct creatures like the sabertooth and the wooly mammoth had spells that could turn humans into them. Could this thing magically add new entries to keep up with the state of human knowledge? Might he even find animals that humans didn't know about yet?
Ricky started grinning and rubbing his hands deviously. His landlord dad might have thought him as a wimpy deadbeat son with nothing better to do than dig up the land, but Ricky always knew his archeological exports would bring valuable treasure someday. Now that he had the power to change people into whatever he wanted, he was going to get some more respect both inside and outside the home.
What could he do with this? Well, he could always try being an animal himself. He could try literally being free as a bird or wild as a wolf. He could also change unsuspecting bystanders just to make sure it works without risking the possible downsides himself. Or he could let his friends try out their fantasies, which would make him more popular. Better yet, he could get some revenge. He could watch his worst bullies get reduced to the state of an animal--hear their pleas for mercy reduced to inhuman distress calls--only to laugh in the face of their plight, holding full control over any possible return to human form. Who's the wimp now? Muhaha.
After a few minutes of thinking, some more specific ideas start to come to mind.