Why is everyone afraid of Luna?

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 84241

Annemehr  wrote:

<some snippage> 
> It's hard for me to pin it down.  I think she's represents 
acceptance
> of the "unconditional" that Harry has never known.  Even though her
> mother is gone, Luna is still secure in her love, in what it means 
to
> be loved, and that the beloved never truly leave us -- indeed, we 
will
> see them again.  She also seems to exhibit and unconditional
> acceptance of life.  People's comments disappear into the pool of 
her
> tranquility without a ripple.  She can see the thestrals, speak of 
her
> possessions disappearing or being called "Loony" with perfect calm. 
I
> don't mean to imply that she's indifferent to all this, just that
> somehow she has a very effective way of processing it, or 
something. 
> Harry, on the other hand, has a more volatile, reactive personality,
> which, combined with the trouble that always finds him, has left him
> at the very end of his rope, at his wit's end, and seemingly feeling
> every kind of pain there is.
> 
> Just at Harry's darkest hour, Luna is the balm to his wounds and the
> ray of hope.  Dumbledore couldn't be that.  Ron, Hermione, and the
> others could be no help, and neither for once could Hagrid, though 
he
> tried.  Harry couldn't do it for himself as he sat so long by the
> lake; he could only try *not* to think about his godfather, or feel 
as
> human as everyone else, or even feel the cold.  Only Luna could
> lighten his burden, and only after that could he bear to be with the
> others.

Now me:

I wonder, too, if Harry doesn't see a kindred spirit of a sort with 
Luna. She has lost a parent.  Harry, for all intents and purposes, 
never had parents. Neither Ron or Hermione understand what that means 
emotionally. Granted, Luna's mom was not gunned down by Voldy, but 
still, she has had to go through part of her young life without that 
maternal influence.

Luna is looked on as downright weird by a lot of students, even those 
in her own house.  Harry is also often a target of suspicion and 
distrust by his fellow students. He has been fortunate to have Ron 
and Hermione to give him support most of the time, but I think that 
Harry feels he is "different" than other students and often feels a 
certain separation from them.  This feeling is heightened now because 
of the Prophecy.  Luna, however, seems to be the only person Harry 
has encountered that also has an aura of separateness about her.  

Part of that might be her somehwat spacy demeanour or because she's 
not shy about stating her beliefs in whatever "The Quibbler" prints. 
But, once she revealed that she, too, could see the thestrals and 
hear the voices behind the veil, that put her on a different level 
for me.  I think she will help Harrry see things from a different 
perspective. Luna provides someone to balance the intellectual input 
Harry gets from Hermione and the practical, down-to-earth friendship 
he gets from Ron.
 
Marianne