According to the Harry Potter Wiki, there are seven named students who are Sorted into Gryffindor besides Harry, and there are two unnamed girls who are Sorted into Gryffindor. This Wiki names four students who are Sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. This would make the count of Gryffindors in Harry's year be any number between ten and fourteen; I chose ten.

According to this same Wiki, Sybill Trelawney seldom eats in the Great Hall, and I do not recall reading about her ever patrolling the castle with other professors. So the eerie events of this chapter are plotted in order to solve a basic story problem: How would Sybill Trelawney and firstie Hermione Granger meet? Divination is an elective, beginning third year, so there is no reason for firstie Hermione to ever set foot in the Divination classroom.

In canon, Trelawney speaks two true prophecies. But in my AU, Trelawney speaks a third prophecy, to and about firstie Hermione.

The French prophecy at the end of this chapter was repaired with the help of AO3 reader Harry-Sterek-1968. Merci beaucoup.

Chapter 1
A Sleepwalker and a Prophecy in French

Wednesday, 30th October 1991, a little after 9 p.m
Gryffindor first-year girls' dormitory

As twelve-year-old Hermione Granger prepared for bed, she was miserable.

In primary school, she had been a genius, she had been lonely and she had been bullied. Now history was repeating itself at Hogwarts, with Draco Malfoy of Slytherin and Ron Weasley of Gryffindor being her tormentors.

Almost everyone else avoided Hermione, probably because she was fanatic about homework. When other students could not avoid Hermione, they spoke with her as little as possible. Only Neville Longbottom was her friend—sort of. What a pair they made: the timid boy who feared he was a Squib, and the insufferable know-it-all with the bushy hair and the big front teeth.

It galled Hermione that she, who could stand up and give an impromptu lecture about the science of lasers, about ancient Egypt or about the history of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, knew nothing about how to make friends.

Hermione had believed she had made a friend with Harry Potter on the firstie train. But Harry Potter had definitely made friends with Ron Weasley on the firstie train; and in the two months since that day, Weasley had poisoned the foetal friendship between Harry and Hermione. Now Harry was no friendlier to Hermione than he was to a first-year Hufflepuff, say, or to a first-year Ravenclaw.

(Speaking of Ravenclaws, Hermione now bitterly regretted browbeating the Sorting Hat into putting her into Gryffindor. If Hermione were offered a Re-Sort, she would drop her bum onto that stool in a heartbeat—Hermione was so lonely in Gryffindor.)

Hermione's only consolation, since coming to Hogwarts, was that she was learning about magic—some of the time. DADA and History of Magic were much less instructive than they could be, and Potions was a torment to be endured. Thankfully Transfiguration, Herbology and Charms all were taught well.

The first-year Gryffindors' next class, tomorrow morning, was Charms, which was taught by Professor Flitwick. Tomorrow he would be teaching the Levitation Charm. Hermione was confident that in Charms, she would learn something, which was good because right now, learning was Hermione's only joy in this school.

Anyway, tomorrow morning Hermione would put quill to parchment and would take notes about Charms—

Unlike Harry and Ron, who often chatted with each other instead of writing down what Professor Flitwick was saying. The Boy Who Lived is a layabout, Hermione thought. Shameful.

Hermione was so caught up in her misery that she did not notice that tonight she had changed her routine.

Normally, before going to bed, Hermione put her books and her writing supplies in her trunk, then removed her nightgown from her trunk. Normally Hermione took off the Hogwarts robes and daytime clothes that she was wearing, then dumped them in the hamper; then Hermione donned her nightgown, brushed her teeth for the last time that day and climbed into bed.

But tonight, without realising it, Hermione did not dump her Hogwarts robes in the hamper; instead, Hermione folded today's robes and placed them atop her nightstand. Instead of putting her writing supplies in her trunk, Hermione put her writing supplies on her nightstand as well, all whilst she was unaware of what she was doing.

An hour later
Still in the first-year Gryffindor girls' dormitory

Lavender Brown woke up from a happy dream. At first she could not guess what woke her.

Lavender looked about the dark dormitory room and saw Hermione Granger standing up and moving about by her bed. Granger was glowing with a purple glow.

This confused Lavender.

Lavender had the magic of Seer sight. This magic was not strong in her; still, Lavender sometimes got feelings, which she had learnt to act upon. But uniquely for Seers, Lavender also could see Seer magic in others. Aunt Placida, Sybill Trelawney and Lavender's own mirror-reflection all had purple tongues of flame above their heads that only Lavender could see. Nobody else at Hogwarts, including Granger, had shown even a moment's flicker of purple flame—so why was Granger now glowing head-to-toe purple?

"Lavender!" Parvati Patil whispered from the next bed. "Are you awake? Granger is sleepwalking!"

Lavender looked closer. Granger had pulled her Gryffindor robes on over her nightgown, and now was dropping quills, her ink bottle and parchment into the pockets of her robes. Granger's face was blank and her eyes, though open, were vacant.

Lavender whispered back to Parvati, "She's under a spell. But yes, she's acting like she's sleepwalking. We should follow her."

By now purple-glowing, vacant-eyed Granger had walked out of the dormitory (leaving her wand on her nightstand), and was heading down the stairs to the common room. Lavender grabbed her wand off her own nightstand, then she and Parvati followed Granger. Granger took no notice of Lavender and Parvati—or of anyone else.

Granger walked through the common room and out the portrait hole. The prefects were so surprised that only Percy Weasley said anything—

"Firsties, stop! It's after your bedtime."

Lavender, whilst following Granger, said to Weasley, "She's under a spell. We're protecting her."

Parvati said, "Even if she's only sleepwalking, don't wake her."

Blank-faced Granger walked slowly, but with no hesitation, from Gryffindor Tower through dark and quiet corridors to other parts of the castle. Meanwhile, Lavender, Parvati and Percy followed her.

Percy asked Lavender, "You think she's under a spell?"

"Yes," Lavender replied. "Someone or some thing is calling Granger, and Seer magic is involved somehow."

"How do you know this?" Percy asked sceptically.

"I have Seer magic, and I can see Seer magic in other people. Right now Granger is covered with Seer magic, though she's never shown any such magic before."

Percy asked lowly, "What's Granger like in class? Ron says he can't stand her."

Parvati snorted. "That's no surprise. Of us ten first-year Gryffindors, Ron is the laziest, whilst Granger is the hardest-working."

Lavender said lowly, "But the readings and essays and spells are all Granger ever talks about. She never relaxes, and she never tries to be a friend."

Parvati said, "I don't think she knows how to be a friend. Even though Padma thinks Granger is smarter than most or all of the Ravenclaws in our year."

Lavender said, "My Seer feeling is that Granger is lonely."

After a time, Granger walked to a round floor that was at the end of a corridor. But instead of this floor holding stairs that led to a room above, in the centre of the round floor was a ladder, which led up and into an open trapdoor. Through the open trapdoor came light, and the sound of a woman singing.

Granger walked to the ladder and began to climb it.

"What's up there?" Parvati asked.

"Divination classroom," Lavender and Percy said together.

Then Percy looked at Lavender. "How do you know it's the Divination classroom? Divination is a third-year elective."

Lavender replied, "I want to work as a fortune-teller one day. My second day here, I went looking for Trelawney's classroom and I talked to her for two hours."

"Professor Trelawney's classroom," sleepwalker Granger said as she climbed the ladder.

Lavender, then Parvati and Percy, followed Granger up the ladder.

A minute later, in the Divination classroom

As Lavender stepped off the ladder and into the classroom, she discovered that Granger had lost her purple glow. Granger was awake now, and was freaking out—

"Where am I? Ma'am, who are you? Lavender, what's going on?"

Trelawney replied, "Child, I too am wondering what is going on. You entered my classroom in a magical trance, then immediately awakened from it."

Lavender looked at Granger and nodded. "You climbed out of bed, Hermione, then you were called here to Divination. Professor Trelawney, this is Hermione Granger, a first-year Gryffindor. Hermione, this is Professor Trelawney."

As soon as Percy stepped off the ladder and entered the classroom, Lavender's world turned weird again—

Now it was Professor Trelawney's face that went slack. Professor Trelawney's voice deepened and turned strange.

Also, the tongue of purple flame above Trelawney's head that Lavender had spotted when she first had entered the classroom, grew into a raging purple bonfire of Seer magic; the purple fire seemingly was burning Trelawney from head to toe. Lavender had never seen anything like this.

Trelawney pointed a finger at Granger and commanded, "HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER, PREPARE TO WRITE WHAT I SAY."

Granger, looking confused, did nothing but stare at the woman.

Trelawney repeated, "HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER, PREPARE TO WRITE WHAT I SAY."

Lavender said, "Hermione, check your pockets. You stuffed your pockets before you walked out."

Granger muttered, "How am I wearing my robes? I know I took them off before I climbed into bed."

But Granger obediently walked to a table, removed the ink bottle, parchment and two quills from her pockets and set them on the table, then sat down. Whilst wearing an expression of I can't believe this is happening to me, Granger said, "I'm ready, professor."

Then Trelawney began to speak a prophecy—in French. A language which Lavender could speak not one word of. Lavender looked at Parvati and Percy—they looked just as bewildered by the torrent of French as Lavender was.

As for Granger, she was alternating between staring at Professor Trelawney in shock, and scribbling on her parchment like a madwoman.

This is what Hermione wrote down—

"Écoute-moi, fille de guérisseurs de dents. Demain, deux amis t'approchent, un véritable ami et un faux ami. Un jour, tu choisiras lequel épouser. Si tu épouses le faux ami, ta vie sera ensuite ordinaire, et tu sangloteras de regret pendant tout le reste de tes jours. Si tu choisis le véritable ami, tu baigneras dans la joie au cours de tes dernières années, et toi et lui atteindrez ensemble la grandeur. Fille de guérisseurs de dents, tu peux changer le monde sauf si tu choisis l'homme inapte.

"Méfies-toi du menteur barbu. Il ne dit jamais la vérité, et il complote la mort de ton véritable ami."

This is what Hermione translated in her head—

Listen to me, daughter of tooth-healers. Tomorrow two friends approach you—a true friend and a false friend. One day you will choose which one to marry. If you marry the false friend, your life will then be ordinary, and you will sob with regret for the rest of your days. If you choose the true friend, you will bathe in joy in your later years, and you and he will achieve greatness together. Daughter of tooth-healers, you can change the world unless you choose the unfit man.

Beware of the bearded liar. He never tells the truth, and he plots the death of your true friend.