It was the afternoon of Sunday, July 10h, 2022, and James and Lily were in James's room at Potter Manor munching away on bags of limited edition All Lime Skittles packs they'd stocked up on.

"This is heaven," grinned Lily, "All Lime, it's all good."

"Yep, " agreed James, "The All Lime Skittles are one of the awesome things in candy history.

"Anyway, " said Lily, "I'm feeling a little bored today."

"Well, " said James matter of factly, "We could play a riddle game. I tell you what. I'll ask you ten riddles. If you get all ten right, I'll give you ten galleons. This is not a bet as I'm not asking you to risk anything. Think of it as like playing Grand Game on The Price is Right. If you win, you're ten thousand dollars richer. If you lose, you aren't out anything you previously had."

Lily's facial expression turned from boredom to excitement.

"Let's play!" cried Lily eagerly.

"What has legs but cannot walk?" began James.

"A table, " replied Lily confidently.

"Good start, sis!" said James happily, "What has two hands but cannot clap?"

"A clock," answered Lily briskly.

"Correct, " confirmed James, "Hickory Dickory Dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one. The mouse ran down. Hickory Dickory Dock."

"I always loved that nursery rhyme!" cooed Lily, "But what's the third riddle?"

"What goes up and down but never moves?" was James's third riddle to Lily.

"A staircase, " responded Lily swiftly.

"Still safe, " grinned James, "Now it's time for something a little more difficult. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you do?"

Heeding James's warning about this one being more difficult, Lily took a minute and a nanosecond to compose her thoughts.

"Your name!" burst out Lily suddenly, "Ironic, isn't it?"

"I've never thought it about it much, " admitted James, "But that is the correct answer."

"Kind of incredible when you think about it how you always see and hear you own name but rarely say it, " mused Lily, '"Most of time you refer to yourself as I or me."

"Talking about one's self in the third person would be awkward, " piped up James, "Next riddle: I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?"

Lily seemed stumped at first but James was patient and told her, "Take all the time you need. There's no time limit here. A wrong answer is what you want to avoid."

It took a few minutes and a few nanoseconds for Lily to realize something.

"There's no actual math involved here. It's actually about words, " smiled Lily, "The solution to this riddle is seven!"

"You go girl," said James brightly, "I wish I'd have thought to have saved that one for our seventh riddle. But, hey, I'm making them up as I go along."

"Thank you for being patient with me, " said Lily sincerely, "I can tell you are on my side."

"I am, " said James cheerfully, "Here's the next riddle to ponder: A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family?"

James watched intently as he witnessed a look of absolute concentration in his sister's face. He knew that was going on. It wasn't a particularly difficult riddle, but it did require focusing in on the given information to come to right conclusion, much like Snape's potions riddle in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

After a few minutes and a few nanoseconds, Lily yelled out, "FOUR SISTERS AND THREE BROTHERS!" and had a look on her face that gave off a distinct aura of being pleased with herself.

"Great approach, Lils!" beamed James, "You're getting there. How about this one: What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?"

"That sounds tough," said Lily sadly.

"Take your time," said James encouragingly, "Think it out and take the time you need."

It took her ten minutes to deduce the solution to this particular riddle, but at long last she thought she knew the answer.

"River," put forth Lily hopefully.

"That's it!" declared James glowingly, "Seven down three to go!"

"And down the stretch we come!" exclaimed Lily.

"Indeed, " quipped James, "I am not safe but I am good. I am feared and loved. I am omnipresent yet rarely seen. Who am I?

"Aslan," guessed Lily instantly, "You'll never stump me a Narnia themed riddle. "

"You loved Aslan from the time we were first introduced to him in The Magician's Nephew, " remembered James, "So, With pointed fangs I sit and wait; with piercing force I crunch out fate; grabbing victims, proclaiming might; physically joining with a single bite. What am I?"

This one was a toughie, but Lily managed to figure it quicker than the river one,

"A stapler, " realized Lily after five minutes, "Somehow that one just suddenly clicked in my mind."

"Allow this to click in your mind, Lily, " said James with anticipation in his voice, "If you get the next riddle right, you will have ten for ten and I give you ten galleons !"

"Let's do it then!" said Lily eagerly.

"Here it is then," said James in a businesslike voice, "This thing all things devours. Birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel. Grinds hard stones to meal. Slays king, ruins town, and beats mountain down."

"TIME!" yelled Lily triumphantly, "That was one of the riddles used in the riddle game between Bilbo and Gollum in The Hobbit!"

James's face lit up like a set of chasing Christmas lights.

"Yes!" said James radiantly, "You went ten for ten and it is TIME for me to give you ten galleons!"

James retrieved ten galleons from the bag he kept his money in and handed them to Lily.

"Thanks, James, " said Lily cheerfully, "That was challenging at some points and easier at others but I'm delighted to have succeeded."

"Great job, sis!" piped up James proudly, patting Lily on the back, "You go girl!"