Lovegood, Luna

 

Harry Potter character
Luna Lovegood
Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Actor	Evanna Lynch
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Luna Lovegood is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. The character first appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in which she is described as unconventionally pretty, with straggly, waist-length dirty-blond hair and a dazed look on her face. Her eyes are "silvery", "misty", and "protuberant" (the last quality serving to give her a permanently surprised look).

The character is portrayed by Evanna Lynch in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ^[1]. On her website, Rowling described the actress as "perfect" for the role.^[2] Evanna Lynch has received praise of both fans and critics. Lynch had to bleach her hair a light blonde in order to play the role,^[3] and she has been confirmed as reprising the role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.^[4]

Character development

Rowling has often said that Luna is the "anti-Hermione", as Luna believes things on faith alone, while Hermione grounds her views on facts and logic.^[5] Hermione repeatedly tries to convince Luna that her beliefs are nonsense, but to no avail. This is not to suggest that Luna is unintelligent; indeed, as a Ravenclaw, it is her belief that "wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure". Hermione sees Luna as gullible, whereas Luna views Hermione as narrow-minded. Although they have different views, Luna and Hermione eventually become close friends. Despite her quirkiness, Luna is often perceptive about human nature, and Harry notes her knack for blunt honesty. She also holds her friends in extremely high regard, as Harry notices (with affection) that she has painted portraits of her friends (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville) on the ceiling of her room, connected by chains made of the word "friends" painted over and over. This also shows that, despite recurring rudeness from Ron and Hermione, she still regards them as close members of her life.

Appearances

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Luna first appears in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Harry, Ginny and Neville join her in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Ginny mentions that she and Luna are in the same year and that Luna is in Ravenclaw. Luna is isolated at school, but she appears to care little for what others think. She is aware of — but seems unperturbed by — the nickname Loony, by which she is widely known among the students, and is largely unfazed when her classmates tease her by regularly stealing and hiding her possessions. Nevertheless, she values her few friendships.

Harry, during this particularly turbulent year of his life, forms a friendship with Luna. Luna supported Harry many times during the series, since she first appeared. She and her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, believe in Harry and Albus Dumbledore's words when they said Lord Voldemort has returned; even Luna and Hermione get Rita Skeeter to interview Harry in order to publish his views in The Quibbler. Luna also becomes a member of the Dumbledore's Army, and later in the book joins Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville in the conflict with Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic Department of Mysteries. Towards the end of the novel, Luna consoles Harry by sharing her views on death after the loss of his godfather, Sirius Black. She manages to raise his spirits when not even some of his other closest friends could.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Luna is first seen on the Hogwarts Express. When some other female students invite him to join them in their compartment by saying that he does not have to sit with Luna and Neville, Harry witheringly informs them: "They're my friends." Luna observes in her bluntly honest way that people expect someone like Harry to "have cooler friends than us". Harry's response, indicative of the increased fondness he has developed for the pair, is that she and Neville are cool.

At Christmas, Harry invites Luna on a platonic date to the party hosted by Horace Slughorn. Wearing a flowing silvery dress, she looks quite nice, Harry notices, and her conversation about the Rotfang conspiracy (wherein the Aurors are allegedly attempting to bring down the Ministry via a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease) with various guests has Harry coughing into his drink in laughter. Luna also does the Quidditch commentary for Gryffindor's game against Hufflepuff, during which she says little about the play - talking instead about "interestingly-shaped clouds" above the stadium and how nice Ginny is - and refers to one of the Hufflepuff players as suffering from "Loser's Lurgy". Minerva McGonagall does not quite know what to do with her, but some fans find her commentary highly amusing. This wins over Ron, who soon explains that Luna may be mad, but in a good way. The author noted in an interview that she "really enjoyed" writing Luna's commentary and considered it "blinding insight". ^[6]

Later, when Death Eaters attack Hogwarts, Luna and Neville are the sole D.A. members who answer the call to protect the school. During Dumbledore's funeral, Harry feels a "great rush of affection" for both Luna and Neville as the former helps the latter into his seat.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Luna and her father attend Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Burrow, during which she immediately recognises Harry, despite the fact that he is disguised with Polyjuice Potion, simply by the expression he has on his face. Luna later returns to school for her sixth year, where she and Ginny help Neville secretly revive Dumbledore's Army, to the fury of Alecto Carrow and Amycus Carrow, Death Eater siblings sent to teach at Hogwarts. During Harry's time at the Lovegood residence, he notices several pieces of evidence that suggest that Luna hasn't been home for weeks: dust over a photograph of her and her mother, dust over the carpet, no clothes in her wardrobe, and her bed, which looks like it hasn't been slept in for weeks. It is revealed that while travelling home for Christmas on the Hogwarts Express that year, Luna was kidnapped in an effort to stop her father from publishing information in support of Harry Potter in The Quibbler. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are at the Lovegoods' home, Xenophilius betrays them to the Death Eaters in the hope that doing so will secure his daughter's release. The trio narrowly escapes - only to eventually land in the cellar of Malfoy Manor as captives themselves, where they find Luna being held hostage along with Mr Ollivander and the goblin Griphook. They are all rescued by the house-elf Dobby, who brings them to Shell Cottage, the residence of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, where protective enchantments keep them safe.

When Harry returns to Hogwarts in search of the Ravenclaw item that Voldemort turned into a Horcrux, Luna helps him to access Ravenclaw's common room in order to view a replica of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. There, she Stuns Death Eater Alecto Carrow when they are discovered. Later, she fights bravely in the Battle of Hogwarts, and summons her Patronus charm along with others to help fight off hundreds of oncoming Dementors that were about to attack on Harry, Ron and Hermione. After Harry's supposed death, Luna ends up duelling Bellatrix Lestrange herself along with Hermione and Ginny until Molly Weasley takes over and defeats Bellatrix herself. Finally, Luna is among the first to congratulate Harry when Voldemort is defeated. After the battle, she recognises that Harry wants some peace and quiet away from the other students, and she provides a distraction in order to allow him to escape with the Invisibility Cloak.

Life after the book series

In Rowling's first televised interview since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, she revealed a number of aspects of Luna's life after Hogwarts. Luna continues to be an eccentric individual and pursues a career that is "the wizarding equivalent" of a naturalist. She comes to terms with her father's sometimes false beliefs, but Rowling explains that her background has fostered in her a singular open-mindedness that allows her to make discoveries that more "reality"-oriented individuals might be unable to recognise.

In a later webchat-based interview, Rowling explained that Luna discovered many new species of animals and became quite famous for it, although she eventually was forced to admit that Crumple-Horned Snorkacks don't actually exist. She married a fellow naturalist, and the grandson of Newt Scamander, named Rolf.^[7]

Family

Both Luna's parents are magical. Her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, makes his first appearance until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and is the editor-in-chief of The Quibbler, a magazine that, according to Luna, publishes "important stories he thinks the public needs to know". Her mother was, according to Luna, an extraordinary witch who died when a spell experiment went wrong. Luna witnessed the death of her mother when she was only nine and thus she is able to see Thestrals. The Lovegoods live near Ottery St. Catchpole, a small village on the south coast of England that is also home to the Weasley family. Luna is never mentioned or hinted in the books as having siblings.

References

See also

• Luna's page at the Harry Potter Lexicon

The Harry Potter series
Books	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Other Literature: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them • Quidditch Through the Ages
Films, Games, and Soundtracks	Philosopher's Stone (Film/Game/Soundtrack) • Chamber of Secrets (Film/Game/Soundtrack) • Prisoner of Azkaban (Film/Game/Soundtrack) • Goblet of Fire (Film/Game/Soundtrack) • Order of the Phoenix (Film/Game/Soundtrack) • Half-Blood Prince (Film)  • Deathly Hallows (Film) • Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup • Lego Creator: Harry Potter • Harry Potter Trading Card Game
Characters	Harry Potter • Ron Weasley • Hermione Granger • Lord Voldemort • Albus Dumbledore • Severus Snape • Sirius Black • Rubeus Hagrid • Minerva McGonagall • Draco Malfoy • Ginny Weasley • Neville Longbottom • Luna Lovegood • Weasley family • Dursley family • James and Lily Potter • Hogwarts staff • Dark Wizards • Ministry Officials
Universe	Locations • Magic • Spells • Quidditch • Hogwarts • Ministry of Magic • Magical creatures • Potions • Plants
Other	Harry Potter influences and analogues • Politics of Harry Potter • Religious debates over the Harry Potter series • Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series • Chronology of the Harry Potter stories • Harry Potter music • Harry Potter fandom • Parodies of Harry Potter • Harry Potter in translation • List of Harry Potter films cast members

Harry Potter characters

Main characters Harry Potter | Ron Weasley | Hermione Granger | Albus Dumbledore | Severus Snape | Lord Voldemort Secondary characters Sirius Black | Rubeus Hagrid | Neville Longbottom | Luna Lovegood | Draco Malfoy | Minerva McGonagall | Ginny Weasley Families: The Dursleys | The Potters | The Weasleys Hogwarts: Hogwarts staff | Minor Gryffindors | Minor Hufflepuffs | Minor Ravenclaws | Minor Slytherins Groups: Dark wizards | Death Eaters | Ghosts | House-elves | Ministry officials | Order of the Phoenix | Portraits | The Weird Sisters Minor characters

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