Blog Post 2: Not so Loony Lovegood, and others...

Luna Lovegood is a character with great depth. When she is first introduced we see her as “Looney” Lovegood who is just a weird girl that everybody makes fun of. Her possessions are commonly stolen and she really doesn’t have any friends. As Harry and his friends grow to get to know her better through the DA, we realize that there is a lot going on underneath the surface. Luna is one of the few students who are able to see the thestrals alongside Harry. Later she tells him that when she was nine years old, her mother was killed in front of her from an experimental potion she was making. So now she lives with just her father who is the editor of The Quibbler. Although Luna has lost her mother at a young age and must deal with the trauma of bullying at school, she is still always nothing other than who she is. She doesn’t hate her tormentors, and she is not even upset that her things are stolen. Instead she is confident that things will always sort themselves out in the end. She is well aware that she is often different than everybody else, but it does not bother her at all. She does not hate and is the first person to point out the good in somebody.

Luna is a strong person with a strong personality. She is not afraid to speak her mind and is proud to stand by her beliefs. Luna feels strong empathy for many people and situations. After joining the DA and becoming friends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione she rewards their kindness but giving them her loyalty and support. At the end of Order of the Phoenix, she is one of the group of DA members who travel to the Ministry of Magic to fight alongside Harry. Not only would fighting Death Eaters have to be traumatic, but she was also the only other person to realize that there are people behind the veil where Sirius fell after his death. She spoke with Harry at the end of the year about it, saying that she knew he would be able to see Sirius again, just as she would be able to see her mother.

Although historical trauma and current trauma has shaped Luna’s life so far, she does not let it define her. I think a big theme in the series is the idea that we all have a choice. We do not have to be defined by the things that have happened to us. We can choose to learn from them, and to grow. There are many characters who have experienced trauma in their lives- Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Neville Longbottom,Ginny Weasley, and of course Harry himself. I think it is important as a reader that we meet these characters so that we can begin to feel a connection to others. We can realize that Harry is not alone in how he feels or in having had terrible things happen to him. It is through this that we realize people are not always who they may seem. We allow Harry to give people second chances and in turn accept that they can change (or in some cases they do not change). I think again it is important that we can see what other people go through in order to connect emotionally. Without any kind of emotional attachment or feelings towards the characters in books, we will not be invested readers.