You look around desperately, but you don't see him anywhere. Wait, in a corner, you look, and see a man holding a green book. You open your own book to cast a spell, but react to late. He points at you, and a cloud of smoke appears all around you.
When it clears, you can't see anything. Then you realize, you're buried under your own shirt. You quickly climb out and try to examine your body. With a few turn arounds, you're able to figure out what he turned you into, a ferret.
You're now a ferret, and can no longer speak, at least not in a human tongue. Will that matter for the spell? You're unsure. You quickly run over to your book that dropped to the ground when you were transformed and with great effort manage to get it open to the spells.
By now all the police officers that remained are animals. The thief smiles, then looks around, obviously preparing to leave. He sees you, and then, he sees the book you're standing on. He then looks at his own book, and a look of horror comes over his face, as he quickly races his hand to point at you preparing another spell.
Well, it's time to find out if you can cast like this.
"Shape!" The thief shouts while pointing at you.
"Progress!" You shout, while attempting to point at him with a paw.
Halfway between the two of you, there is a spark of electricity, which soon fades.
Saphira was right, the spells nullify each other.
This seems to have taken the thief by surprise, if you act quickly, you may be able to cast a spell on him. Which one though?