The writing of the series/shipping/Luna

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 70484


drymusalastor :

Also (since I believe that now she has the next two books figured 
out) I wonder why everybody (at least, as far as I know) seems to 
imagine Harry with Ginny or Hermione, and not with Luna Lovegood. I 
think both Ginny and Hermione are much too  friends with Harry for 
any relationship to develop...and besides, Ron will never appreciate 
Luna, even if she may have fancied him at first,

acoteucla : 
 
Yes, Harry/Luna does not seem to have too much support on this 
board.  Beats me as to why that is - she seems like the most obvious 
match for Harry at this point in the series.  It's exactly the kind  
of thing Rowling would do: Harry dates the pretty, popular girl and  
finds out she's emotionally unstable.  Then he dates the weird,  
unpopular girl and finds out she's really great!  I also think we'll 
see Ginny/Neville and Ron/Hermione.

Me (Del) :

I would agree with you. That is, IF Harry gets paired up with anyone 
before the end of book 7, of course. In my opinion, he will be too 
busy to even think of dating. Not to mention a bit disgusted, after 
the whole Cho disaster. But again, you never know, working regularly 
alongside another student can create attachments...

My points in favour of Luna :
* she doesn't worship Harry, quite the contrary in fact
* she stands for herself, never caring what other people think. It's 
irritating sometimes, sure, but it's also refreshing, and it usually 
indicates a strong personality, one you can lean on.
* Which leads me to my 3rd point : she's quietly loyal to Harry. 
She's chosen his side, not out of emotions, but out of logical reason 
(okay, warped reason maybe, I admit, but reason still). Which means 
he can depend on her no matter what.
* She's got her wits around her, that girl ! She never misses a beat, 
she's intelligent and knowledgeable (she's a Ravenclaw after all !), 
and she's resourceful.
She'd make quite a pair with Harry.

And her weirdness ? Well, it brings 3 things to my mind :
1. Parents' heritage. Draco is awful because he's a Malfoy. Same for 
Crabbe and Goyle. Ron is good-natured because he's a Weasley. 
Hermione is study-oriented and she happens to be the daughter of 2 
dentists. Neville is unsure and he's got a "formidable granny" who is 
always belittling him. And Harry had heroes as parents and turns out 
to be a hero too. Okay, I'm overly simplifying here, but my point is 
that Luna is weird partly because her dad is weird. She can outgrow 
that.
2. It can be a sign of great intelligence to remain open to the most 
incredible theories. Just because most people reject the fantasies 
she believes in doesn't mean they are all fantasies. Maybe there's a 
part of truth in them.
3. She might be trying to escape a cruel reality. We know she saw her 
mother die, she's apparently the only kid of a lunatic man (pun non 
intended), she doesn't fit very well in society. Maybe she's happy to 
believe in fairy tales, it keeps her mind away from the more painful 
reality. Who could blame her for that ? But maybe once she finds true 
acceptance and friendship (and maybe more), she will shake those 
protective dreams away and get more sensible.

So I really think Luna could be a good partner for Harry : she knows 
how it feels not to fit, she's known pain in her life, she doesn't go 
goggling at him each time he says something out of the ordinary, and 
she's strong, resourceful and reliable. So why not ?

As for Ron/Hermione : I have a soft point for that one. Ron seems 
quite smitten with Hermione, even though he doesn't even realise it. 
And I think her interest in Viktor has turned to friendship. She's 
not overly interested in Ron yet, but some things make me feel like 
she's fancying him more and more, especially her choice of words 
regarding his Christmas present : she doesn't belittle him for having 
a horrible taste, she just qualifies the perfume as "unusual" if I 
remember well. And she does sacrifice a family Christmas holiday to 
be with the Weasleys when their dad gets hurt.

Ginny/Neville ? Yeah, I positively LOVE that one :-) !!! I wanted to 
hug Ginny when she snapped at Neville for calling himself "nobody" 
(in the train, when getting introduced to Luna). That girl would do 
him real good as far as his self-esteem goes, she could even 
challenge his granny, she's got the guts for it. And once he starts 
showing his true personality, I'm sure he'll be amazing : nice and 
warm and strong and daring. With someone like Ginny to support him, 
I'm sure Neville can reach unsuspected heights.

Del