Just Oddities
When I think of times when Luna is odd, two main scenes come to mind:
Scene one: The very first time Luna is introduced into the series is in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix . Harry has just seen a Thestral for the first time. This skeletal-looking horse can only be seen by those who have witnessed death. He is caught off guard by the Thestral pulling the carriage and asks the others what it was but, they cannot even see what he is talking about. A faint, eerie, high-pitched, delicate voice rises from the behind the horse in the carriage and says, “You’re not going mad, I can see them too. You’re just as sane as I am.” Luna, with her head oddly cocked to the side slowly lowers her magazine revealing herself as she speaks. Everyone climbs into the carriage and Hermione accidently introduces her as “Loony Lovegood” but Luna does not even seem to notice. Hermoine attempts the break the awkward silence that follows by complimenting Luna’s necklace. Luna responds, “It is a charm actually” then she leans in and whispers very quietly, “It keeps away the Nargles.” Ron turns to Hermoine and whispers,“What’s a Nargle?” to which she responds, “No idea.”
Scene two: Luna is staring off into space with a dazed disposition, this time it is in the Half-Blood Prince when she met Harry for a party. As they begin to
walk down the hall she states, “I’ve never been tothis side of the castle, at least not while awake. I sleep walk you see, that is why I wear shoes to bed.”
Scene one: The very first time Luna is introduced into the series is in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix . Harry has just seen a Thestral for the first time. This skeletal-looking horse can only be seen by those who have witnessed death. He is caught off guard by the Thestral pulling the carriage and asks the others what it was but, they cannot even see what he is talking about. A faint, eerie, high-pitched, delicate voice rises from the behind the horse in the carriage and says, “You’re not going mad, I can see them too. You’re just as sane as I am.” Luna, with her head oddly cocked to the side slowly lowers her magazine revealing herself as she speaks. Everyone climbs into the carriage and Hermione accidently introduces her as “Loony Lovegood” but Luna does not even seem to notice. Hermoine attempts the break the awkward silence that follows by complimenting Luna’s necklace. Luna responds, “It is a charm actually” then she leans in and whispers very quietly, “It keeps away the Nargles.” Ron turns to Hermoine and whispers,“What’s a Nargle?” to which she responds, “No idea.”
Scene two: Luna is staring off into space with a dazed disposition, this time it is in the Half-Blood Prince when she met Harry for a party. As they begin to
walk down the hall she states, “I’ve never been tothis side of the castle, at least not while awake. I sleep walk you see, that is why I wear shoes to bed.”
Oddities That Serve a Purpose.
As I mentioned earlier, Luna was a key part in helping Harry. The following are times when I believe Luna's dissociation is needed to help Harry.
As previously stated, deadened emotions are a sign of more dramatic dissociation. In the midst of the chaos, Luna ends up alone and a Death Eater appears and propels her to the ground with a hit to the face. If was is not for the blood that forms on her lip, one could miss that she was even hit. She shows no sign of pain. No form of emotion is expressed on her face. She just picks up her wand like nothing happened and sends the Death Eater
flying out of sight. She stays on the floor for a moment staring where she had sent her opponent, almost as if she has forgotten the eminent danger that she is in. Soon she gets back up and out of her disconnected state and continues fighting with the others.
Luna’s personality, which is a result of her dissociation, plays a part in helping Harry destroy Voldemort. This time her odd personality and tendencies play a direct role in saving Harry. After having witnessed Draco Malfoy hanging around known Death Eaters, Harry believes Draco is plotting something. He attempts to find out what it is by using his invisibility cloak to hide near Draco on the train. Draco notices Harry and waits until after the train arrives at its destination and everyone else has gotten off. He closes the blinds and strikes Harry with a spell that leaves him temporarily paralyzed. He makes sure the invisbility cloak conceals Harry and with hatred in his voice he insults Harry’s mother and says, “Enjoy you’re ride back to London.” Luna is wandering about as she sometimes does, searching for odd, invisible creatures. In this particular case she is searching throughout the train with her Spectrespecs for Wrackspurts, eyewear that remarkably resembles 70's style 3-D glasses. She knew that Wrackspurts tend to buzz about people’s heads, but instead of finding them, she stumbles across the paralyzed Harry. If she had not been wandering about with her odd glasses, Harry would have inevitably ridden the train back to London and missed getting off at Hogwarts.
The most important part Luna plays in defeating Voldemort is helping Harry find Ravenclaw’s Diadem. Because she is a Ravenclaw and her personality causes her to wander about the castle alone fairly frequently, Luna knows where to find the ghost of the Grey Lady. She shows Harry the way there and he approaches the ghost timidly. She begins to float away until Harry refers to her as Helena, her actual name which he had learned from Luna. When the Grey Lady hears this, she returns and asks if he is a friend of Luna’s and mentions that “Luna is kind, unlike so many of the others” Harry affirms that he is friends with Luna and requests the diadem she stole from her mother in hopes to destroy it. She states that boy like him came a long time ago saying he
wanted to destroy it too, but he defiled it with dark magic. Harry knows at once that she is referring to Voldemort, who was known as Tom Riddle at that time. Harry responds, “I can destroy it once and for all but, only if you tell me where he hid it. You do know where he hid it, don’t you Helena. You just have to tell me.” She responds in a riddle, “It is here in the castle, in the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, then you need only ask.” Harry knows immediately that the riddle refers to the Room of Requirement and goes there to find the diadem. Without Luna’s knowledge of the Grey Lady and the relationship she had with her, Harry could not have found the horcrux which was necessary for destroying Voldemort.
As previously stated, deadened emotions are a sign of more dramatic dissociation. In the midst of the chaos, Luna ends up alone and a Death Eater appears and propels her to the ground with a hit to the face. If was is not for the blood that forms on her lip, one could miss that she was even hit. She shows no sign of pain. No form of emotion is expressed on her face. She just picks up her wand like nothing happened and sends the Death Eater
flying out of sight. She stays on the floor for a moment staring where she had sent her opponent, almost as if she has forgotten the eminent danger that she is in. Soon she gets back up and out of her disconnected state and continues fighting with the others.
Luna’s personality, which is a result of her dissociation, plays a part in helping Harry destroy Voldemort. This time her odd personality and tendencies play a direct role in saving Harry. After having witnessed Draco Malfoy hanging around known Death Eaters, Harry believes Draco is plotting something. He attempts to find out what it is by using his invisibility cloak to hide near Draco on the train. Draco notices Harry and waits until after the train arrives at its destination and everyone else has gotten off. He closes the blinds and strikes Harry with a spell that leaves him temporarily paralyzed. He makes sure the invisbility cloak conceals Harry and with hatred in his voice he insults Harry’s mother and says, “Enjoy you’re ride back to London.” Luna is wandering about as she sometimes does, searching for odd, invisible creatures. In this particular case she is searching throughout the train with her Spectrespecs for Wrackspurts, eyewear that remarkably resembles 70's style 3-D glasses. She knew that Wrackspurts tend to buzz about people’s heads, but instead of finding them, she stumbles across the paralyzed Harry. If she had not been wandering about with her odd glasses, Harry would have inevitably ridden the train back to London and missed getting off at Hogwarts.
The most important part Luna plays in defeating Voldemort is helping Harry find Ravenclaw’s Diadem. Because she is a Ravenclaw and her personality causes her to wander about the castle alone fairly frequently, Luna knows where to find the ghost of the Grey Lady. She shows Harry the way there and he approaches the ghost timidly. She begins to float away until Harry refers to her as Helena, her actual name which he had learned from Luna. When the Grey Lady hears this, she returns and asks if he is a friend of Luna’s and mentions that “Luna is kind, unlike so many of the others” Harry affirms that he is friends with Luna and requests the diadem she stole from her mother in hopes to destroy it. She states that boy like him came a long time ago saying he
wanted to destroy it too, but he defiled it with dark magic. Harry knows at once that she is referring to Voldemort, who was known as Tom Riddle at that time. Harry responds, “I can destroy it once and for all but, only if you tell me where he hid it. You do know where he hid it, don’t you Helena. You just have to tell me.” She responds in a riddle, “It is here in the castle, in the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, then you need only ask.” Harry knows immediately that the riddle refers to the Room of Requirement and goes there to find the diadem. Without Luna’s knowledge of the Grey Lady and the relationship she had with her, Harry could not have found the horcrux which was necessary for destroying Voldemort.