Inside a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Oren sat with the three kids and a professor who was either asleep or dead. His name, Lupin, was written on his suitcase.
"Is he a new professor?" Ron asked. "What subject does he teach?"
"Only Defense Against the Dark Arts has an opening," Hermione said.
"Poor Professor Lupin, becoming this year's expendable item," Oren sighed. "Let's hope he isn't dead by the end of the year."
"As long as he isn't Lockhart, I can accept him," Ron said.
"Harry, why aren't you eating? Eating hot pot and singing on a train, what a wonderful thing it is."
Harry poked at the self-heating hot pot Oren had taken out with his fork. "Why does that sound a little ominous?"
Ron curled his lip and explained to everyone, "Harry's gone crazy from reading divination books. Everything looks like a bad omen to him now, especially black dogs."
"Last year, you and Ron already pulled plenty of stunts on me. If your jinxed mouth makes the train break down, Harry, I'll suggest that Headmaster Dumbledore make you fly a broom back to Hogwarts next term," Oren warned.
Harry...
"Jinxed mouth? Oren, that sounds like a very serious accusation," Hermione said.
"The black dog I saw on the day I left Uncle Vernon's house might have been an omen," Harry said, resting his cheek on one hand. "That Sirius Black who escaped from Azkaban is coming after me now."
"He's definitely coming after you, Harry. But the Ministry of Magic sent a car to take us to the station. You could tell at a glance that driver was an Auror," Oren said.
Oren took the constantly buzzing Sneakoscope from Harry's pocket and tossed it into his suitcase. "Ron must have given this to you for your