The writing of the series/shipping/Luna

[junediamanti]

No: HPFGUIDX 70503

> 
> 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 ?
> > 
> Del

June writes:

I too love Luna.  I have been giving a good deal of thought to the 
theme of kids and their problems which I think runs through these 
books.  One of the ideas being shown is that bad upbringing messes 
you up: eg. Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.  But two kids have had 
odd/bad upbringings and are not messed up:  Luna and Harry.

In any case, I suspect Luna's upbringing has been loving if rather 
eccentric - she speaks well of her father and it seems the worst that 
anyone could accuse him of is eccentricity.  There are several 
qualities in Luna that are especially engaging:

1.  She is immune to the pressures of peer opinion - so people think 
she's mad - so what?

2.  She has to courage to be entirely her own person instead of 
following the herd and has the cool to wear mad hats - go girl!

3.  Above all, unlike Hermione's analytical approach to personal 
problems, Luna has an instinctive sensitivity that I think enables 
her to see much farther than others.  I defy anyone to read her scene 
with Harry after Sirius' death and not have at least one tear in 
their eye.  Although Harry thinks he is comforting her over the loss 
of her belongings - in fact it is she who gives comfort to him - with 
no fuss - she just does it intuitively (sorry about all the hyphens 
here).

Essentially, this is a well adjusted, well-integrated girl (unlike 
some of the potential future psychos in her year) and I think she is 
really cool.

June - posting in her lunch hour.