"Hey, take me back to Mistress Elspeth" James squawked angrily "I'm Mistress Elspeth's pet parrot! I belong in Mistress Elspeth's house!"
"What are you going to do with him now?" Nicola asked, neither her of Jasper feeling they were obliged to converse with a bird.
"Turn him into a frog" Jasper answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
"Why?" Nicola asked.
"Because I hate parrots and Elspeth hates frogs" Jasper laughed "She will need to pay me twice what she owes me if she wants her beloved pet restored to it's annoying self."
"Wait, you can't do that!" James protested "I'm supposed to be a parrot, Mistress Elspeth will.."
The wizard merely flicked his wrist at the unfortunate bird and within the blink of an eye a plump green frog was squatting on the perch where the parrot had been a moment ago. It was a surreal sight.
"Hey, what just happened!" the frog asked in a croaky voice, adding to the already comical scenario "this feels weird.."
"He can still talk?" Nicola asked in amazement.
"Elspeth might not believe it was James otherwise" Jasper nodded "so until she pays up you'd better get used to our strange new addition to the house."