It was the morning after James had come home from Hogwarts for Christmas after his first ever semester and Harry, James, Albus, Lily, and Ginny were enjoying a breakfast of pancakes, sausage patties, and Budweiser when Ginny pulled up her purse and extracted twenty galleons and handed them to Harry.

"Harry, " said Ginny with a wry smile, "Here are the twenty galleons I owe you for the bet you won against me last night. "

"What were you two betting on?" James asked his parents curiously.

"It had to do with that prank Lily pulled on you where you came home to find your room filled with balloons, " explained Harry, "Ginny predicted you would be really angry and explode on Lily. I predicted you would see the humor in it and be a good sport about it, taking it in the right spirit. We both knew you would be stunned when you first saw the balloons but our bet centered around how you'd react after Lily revealed that she was behind the prank, what it was, and what its full extent was."

"Good for you dad, " smiled James, "Having faith in me paid off for you!"

Harry smiled at James and asked, "I know Albus plans to spend the day reading the latest issue of Transfiguration Today, so what are you and Lily up to?"

"Well, " grinned James, "I've promised Lily that I would teach her how to play Odell Lake so I'm planning on doing that today."

"That sounds fun, " said Harry cheerfully.

James and Lily went up to James's room.

"Lily, " said James matter of factly, "There are two ways to play Odell Lake. One is to go exploring as one of six different fish. In this game, you win if you can survive eleven encounters. By exploring as each fish, you can learn about the fishes and their relationships. When you go exploring there is no time limit. An exploring game ends if you are eaten or survive eleven encounters. In play for points, you get more points by making better decisions but with a time limit. Ignore becomes your default choice if you run out of time. In play for points, you keep playing until you are eaten. We'll go exploring as each fish so you can learn about them and then you can play for points. Select "Go Exploring" from the main menu,"

Lily selected "Go Exploring" from the main menu and after reading some instructions, she asked James, "Which fish should I explore as first?"

"The Chub, " said James clearly, "Start at the bottom of the food chain and work your way up."

So, Lily selected "Chub" and a screen appeared saying "As a Chub you look like this."

"Oh, she's so cute!" cooed Lily when she saw the small Chub.

When the first game screen appeared, James explained to Lily, "You always have five options to choose from: eat, chase away, ignore, shallow escape and deep escape. I'll guide you through the exploring and once we've gone through all six fish, I'll set you off on your own to play for points. Beware that while you are told what you see in Go Exploring, you are not in Play for Points so try to remember what things look like."

"Very well, James, " said Lily, "The message on screen says that I see an Otter ahead."

"So, " explained James, "Otters will eat all the fish but they stay near the shallow water. No matter what fish you are playing as, always do a deep escape from an otter."

Lily selected deep escape and watched as her Chub went for the deep. The game retuned a message that said "Wise move. As long as you stay in deep water it won't come after you."

"See how it works?" James asked Lily.

"Yes, " responded Lily simply.

Lily next saw the message, "You see a mass of Algae ahead."

"So, " said James matter of factly, "While all other fish hate Algae, it is actually one of the Chub's favorite foods. You should eat that."

So, Lily chose eat and watched on happily as her Chub chowed down on the Algae while the game made a chomping sound.

Next nanosecond, Lily got the screen confirming "Yum! That was delicious!"

"Cool!" beamed Lily, "That chomping sound is so neat!"

"Yeah, that's a fun part fun of the game, " agreed James.

"Now I see Animal Plankton ahead, " piped up Lily.

"Lily, " explained James, "A fish can eat a food that is not one of its favorite foods but in Play for Points you will get more points for ignoring such food. In the case of Animal Plankton, it is not a Chub's favorite food, but I want you to eat it so you can see the message you'll get."

So, Lily hit eat and received the feedback, "That food was okay, but there are other foods you like a lot better."

"Animal Plankton is only the favorite food of the Blueback Salmon, which prefers it over all other foods, " said James in a businesslike voice.

"I get it, " said Lily simply, "What about bottom organisms?"

"As a Chub, ignore them, " instructed James.

So, Lily ignored the bottom organisms and the game told her "That's right, there are other foods you like a lot better."

"Bottom Organisms are a favorite food of the Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, and Dolly Varden, " revealed James.

Lily got the Osprey next and James explained that, just as with the Otter, all fish should deep escape from the Osprey.

"Insects and Larva are ahead, " Lily told James.

"Eat them, " said James instantly, "That's one of a Chub's favorite foods. They are also high on the list for Whitefish and Rainbow Trout."

Lily grinned as she ate the Insects and Larva, heard the chomping sound, and saw the result, "Good move. That is one of your favorite foods."

"Now you should be getting the other fish, " realized James.

"I see a Mackinaw Trout ahead, " Lily called out.

"A Mackinaw Trout will eat any other fish but can only swim in deep water, " smirked James, "So as any other fish, shallow escape from the Mackinaw Trout. "

So, Lily picked shallow escape and watched on happily as her Chub escaped the Mackinaw Trout.

"That fish looked big and hungry, " read Lily, giving an effect of chills to her voice, "Good thing you got away."

"Can't get me up here, can't get me up here, " said Lily in a teasing kind of voice.

"What's next?" asked James.

"A Dolly Varden, " replied Lily.

"A Dolly Varden will eat all fish except for the Mackinaw trout, which will eat it. However, the Dolly Varden prefers shallow dwellings so deep escape from it when playing as any fish other than a Mackinaw Trout, " instructed James.

Lily selected deep escape and received the same message about getting away from a big hungry fish.

"You can't catch me, you can't catch me, " taunted Lily.

"Just hope you don't come across a Mackinaw Trout and a Dolly Varden at the same time, " teased James.

"That doesn't seem to be how the game works, " smirked Lily, "And I've got a Blueback Salmon ahead."

"When playing as a Chub, Whitefish, or Rainbow Trout, you can just ignore the Blueback Salmon as it is neither predator nor competitor, " advised James.

Using ignore, Lily got back a screen saying. "Good. That fish is neither predator nor competitor. "

"I've got a Whitefish, " said Lily as the game continued.

"So, " explained James, "The Whitefish, Rainbow Trout, and Chub are all competitors. They eat the same food. The Rainbow Trout and Whitefish can and should chase each other away as well as chasing the Chub away. But a Chub cannot chase anything because it is too small. But choose chase away."

After doing as James said, Lily was informed, "That was a waste of energy. You are too small to chase that fish."

Finally getting the Rainbow Trout, Lily ignored it and...

"Congratulations, you have lived to a ripe old age as a Chub. Perhaps you would like to explore Odell Lake Again, but as a different fish."

"Play as a Whitefish next, " said James clearly.

"Oh, she's so adorable!" squealed Lily as she saw what she looked like as a whitefish.

While playing as a Whitefish, Lily got to see what happened when a fish successfully chased away another fish as she chased away the Rainbow Trout.

"Go. Get lost, " said Lily in a mean voice as her Whitefish chased away the Rainbow Trout, "We don't like you."

"Good thinking, " read the next screen, "That fish was about to eat your dinner!"

"Well, " said Lily smugly, "We can't have that, can we?"

When the Whitefish saw the Algae, James told her to eat it to see what the message would be.

"Yuck! That was disgusting!"

"No kidding!" agreed Lily, "I'd rather eat the vomit flavored bean than eat Algae!"

"That makes two of us then!" agreed James, "Yuck! sums Algae up just perfectly!"

Lily managed to survive as a Whitefish. Nothing of note happened when she played and survived as a Rainbow Trout.

But when it came time to play the Blueback Salmon, James said, "I'm going to have you get yourself eaten just so you can see what it looks like."

So, Lily purposefully tried to shallow escape from the Dolly Varden, which caught her and ate her.

"Oh dear, you have just been eaten, " appeared on the screen as a sound effect of defeat played.

"OHHH!" cried out Lily, "That's the EXACT same sound effect as when the troggles eat the muncher guy in Number Munchers!"

"The exact same, " confirmed James, "Can any game challenge Number Munchers as the GOAT educational computer game?"

"Oregon Trail?" suggested Lily.

"I can see that, " admitted James, "I still prefer Number Munchers though."

"So, do I, " clarified Lily, "I just don't think it's a blowout. Number Munchers is the best through."

"Ah, I'm a bigger fish now, " grinned Lily when she saw what she looked like as a Dolly Varden.

She took pleasure in being able to eat other fish for the first time and would shout out, "Got you!" when her Dolly Varden ate the Whitefish and Rainbow Trout.

"Lily, I want you to ignore the Osprey and let it eat you, " said James eagerly, "I just love seeing how the Osprey snatches up its prey."

So, Lily ignored the Osprey and it snatched her and ate her.

"Eh, " gave off Lily as a startled cry when she saw the Osprey just snatch her Dolly Varden from above.

"It is a bit startling when you see it for the first time, " acknowledged James.

"It IS still a cool effect though, " admitted Lily, "I see why you wanted to show it to me."

"Yeah, couldn't resist, " said James crisply.

"I'm in the stomach of a large predator, " said Lily with a chill in her voice.

"Just one fish left to explore, " said James matter of factly.

"YES!" screamed Lily when she was shown what she would look like as a Mackinaw Trout, "I'm SO badass now. Ready or not, here I come!"

Lily looked very smug as she played as a Mackinaw Trout. Her moment of greatest satisfaction came when she ate the Dolly Varden.

"I'm queen of the lake, " said Lily boastfully, "I just ate a DOLLY VARDEN! How do you like that for pecking order?"

"Queen of the fishes, yes, " James reminded her, "But not queen of the lake, not with otters and ospreys in there. You can't eat them, and they can eat you."

"I can still escape them though, " replied Lily, "I'll take being queen of the fish, since it won't let me play as an otter or osprey."

"There'd be no decisions to make at all, you'd just eat everything, " pointed out James.

"True enough, " admitted Lily.

Lily survived to old age as a Mackinaw Trout, chowing down on a Chub to end it."

"YES!" shouted Lily, "I LIVED TO OLD AGE AS A BADASS MACKINAW TROUT! YOU LIKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!"

"I do, " smiled James, "But now you're going to play for points. In Play for Points, the game decides what fish you are and you change fishes after six decisions as a fish. You will be timed with ignore as the default if time runs out. And if it seems like nothing's happening, you've got an osprey to deal with."

So, Lily played for points.

Playing a timed game provided a different kind of fun for Lily and the constant changing of which fish she was provided a different challenge of having to make different decisions as what fish she was changed. She got to play each fish multiple times and had a great time going back and forth being different fish. It was awesome to go from being a cute Chub to a badass Mackinaw Trout or vice versa.

Lily retained all the information she had learned from exploring and made all the right decisions but saw the game come to a stunning end.

As a Whitefish, Lily ate Insects and Larva only to see a hook after she'd chowed down.

"Oh No! " said the screen that followed, "There was an angler's hook in that food!"

The next message said, "Congratulations, you have made it to the Odell Lake high score list."

The top scorer of all time was James Potter with 999 points. James also occupied spots 3 through 10 with his 10 score now being 500.

Lily typed in the name Lily Potter, seeing she had gotten the 2 spot with 997 points.

"Not bad, " smiled Lily cheerfully, "I was THIS close to getting the top spot, but it was still a great playing."

"Lily, " said James in a serious and apologetic voice, "It's my fault you missed out on the top spot. I forgot to tell you about the fishermen in Play for Points. Shallow Chubs, Insects and Larva, and Animal Plankton always have the possibility of being baited. You will lose a few points if you ignore a favorite food, but if you want to be absolutely safe with your life you can strategically ignore shallow Chubs. Insects and Larva, and Animal Plankton. Would you have used this strategy had you known about it?"

"Yes, " said Lily simply.

"I'm sorry, Lily, " said James ruefully, "I let you down. I cost you the top spot through my oversight."

"James, " said Lily appreciatively, "You have been truly kind and generous in sharing your knowledge of Odell Lake with me. If I just played on my own, I might not have even gotten 100 points. Your guidance is what allowed me to get such a good score. One oversight doesn't overshadow how much you helped me learn about Odell Lake."

"You didn't get a fair chance at that 1 spot because I blew it for you by forgetting to tell you about the fishermen, " said James with obvious regret in his voice, "Not only that, but I cost you a 1000 point game."

"It's all good, James, " said Lily brightly, "I'll still have other chances to get a 1000 point game. This won't be the last time I play Odell Lake. Heck, the challenge of playing for 1000 points and the 1 spot gives me something to shoot for next time!"

"You WILL get a 1000 point game on Odell Lake sometime, Lily, " said James confidently, I KNOW you will."

"Exactly, " said Lily warmly, "All thanks to you and your teachings."

James smiled at Lily and said, "You know how I surprised you with that Corona Extra last night? Well, I've got another surprise for you, but I don't intend to fully give it you, but share it with you."

James went over to his trunk and retrieved a bag of Broch's Jelly Wreaths. These were gummy/jelly candies shaped as wreaths and colored red and green for Christmas.

"Red is cherry and green is lime, " James informed Lily, "I know you don't like cherry, but I do so I'll keep those. But green is lime. I know you like lime, so I'll give you the green ones."

"Thanks a lot, " said Lily happily, "I love lime."

James gave Lily the green candies and when she took her first bite it was paradise.

"YUM!" piped up Lily, "Delicious!"