How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Seth resurfaced at the edge of the pool and threw his arms up onto the flagstones, trying to drag himself out of the water. Kendra stooped to assist him but shrieked instead. One arm was broad, flat, and rubbery. No elbow, no hand. A flipper coated in human skin. The other was long and boneless, a fleshy tentacle with limp fingers at the end. (8.57)
Kendra's right: this is definitely an ew moment in the book. When Seth becomes a mutant-walrus-thingie it's gross to look at, and probably not very fun from his perspective either. It must feel really weird (if not also painful) to have your body rapidly transform itself into shapes it's not meant to occupy.
Quote #2
"Seth was altered by magic imposed upon him. But the potential to fall and become an imp is a fundamental aspect of being a fairy […] Muriel might be able to undo the enchantments forced upon Seth. Reversing the fall of a fairy would be far beyond her capacity." (8.130)
According to Grandpa, there are magical rules about transformations and how they work, and for fairies, the possibility of becoming an imp is always there—it's just part of who they are. Since this is so ingrained in their magical identities, you can't just undo it with a spell. What happened to Seth, on the other hand, was imposed from the outside (by super-annoyed fairies), and so in theory a spell could reverse it.
Quote #3
The baby dove into the room, transforming grotesquely as it landed on the floor in a deft somersault. The child was replaced by a leering goblin with yellow slits for eyes, a puckered nose, and a face like a dried cantaloupe. (10.138)
This kind of rapid transformation, from cute to gross in 0.3 seconds, must be the work of some kind of magic. An illusion spell? An actual bodily transformation? We're not sure, but either way, we don't like it.
Quote #4
"How did this happen?" Seth asked. "Somebody transformed you?"
The chicken bobbed her head. (13.44-45)
Grandma-in-chicken-form finally gets a message through to the kids, but since she can't talk, they (and we) don't learn how she was transformed into a chicken, just that it happened. Even when she's returned to human form later on, she doesn't go into the details. It must be embarrassing to be transformed into a chicken against your will. Bok bok bok…
Quote #5
The fun-house Muriel began to ripple, as did the startling image of Goldilocks shedding feathers as she expanded into a person. The scene grew dim, as if clouds had blocked the sun, and a dark aura gathered around Muriel and Grandma. (13.165)
This whole magical-transformation business is pretty freaky, and when the kids bring Grandma-as-chicken to Muriel in order to have her undo the spell, everything becomes visually distorted. It works though, since the kids get Grandma back in human shape. But of course there's a price to pay: Muriel's freedom, which turns out to be bad news for everyone.
Quote #6
A fairy with raven black hair and bumblebee wings approached the bowl. Mimicking Kendra, she dipped a finger and tasted it. In a whirling shower of sparks the fairy grew to nearly six feet tall. (18.38)
Whoa—by this point in the story we know that fairies have the potential to fall and become imps, but that involves remaining roughly the same size. We don't have a clue that fairies can grow to be six feet tall until this moment. The transformation is temporary (which is probably a good thing—a six-foot-tall fairy could be a nuisance), but it's still pretty surprising.
Quote #7
Kendra saw a silver fairy with blue hair plant a kiss on an obese imp. The imp instantly metamorphosed into a plump fairy with coppery wings. As the silver fairy glided away, the plump fairy tackled another imp, forced a kiss, and in a flash the imp became a thin, Asian-looking fairy with hummingbird wings. (18.62)
Now here's another unexpected transform-y moment in the book. At first we'd learned that fairies that transform into imps aren't supposed to be able to change back—but now they're doing just that.
Quote #8
"I'll be curious to know what other changes the fairies wrought in you," Grandpa said. "I've never heard of such a thing. You'll let me know if you discover any other oddities?" (19.19)
After all the action goes down, Kendra doesn't have to drink milk anymore in order to see magical critters—this strikes Grandpa as odd, and potentially worrisome. Is this the only thing that interacting with the Fairy Queen has transformed about Kendra? Or will there be other surprises down the road?
Quote #9
Grandpa shrugged. "The fairies might have known that once they restored her, she would change her mind. Looks like they were right. Remember, the fairies experience existence like the naiads. From their point of view, Lena was out of her mind wanting to be mortal. They probably thought they were curing her insanity." (19.56)
Lena's transformation from aging mortal back to youthful naiad is puzzling and a little sad (at least from a human point of view). As a mortal, Lena got to have all kinds of cool experiences traveling the world, and she got to hang on to her memories, which she treasured. Back in the naiad world, all that vanishes, and she lives in the ephemeral, day-to-day, immortal world of fairies and naiads once more. Can we really attach a value (good or bad) to this kind of transformation?
Quote #10
Kendra sighed… The only person she could share it with was Seth. Anyone else would think she was insane. (19.93)
The experience that Kendra has at Fablehaven is transformative in more ways than one. Yeah, it leaves her with the freaky ability to see mystical critters unaided… but it also, in a strange way, makes her grow a little closer to her brother. After all, they went through this whole bizarre experience together, an experience they can't really share with other people because it'd sound crazy.