Is Luna Lovegood the anti-Hermione?

[paul_terzis]

No: HPFGUIDX 113580

> 
> Debbie wrote:
> I agree wholeheartedly that Luna is the "anti-Hermione" but must 
> disagree with the statements that Luna's only value at the end was 
> to create feelings of pity, and that Hermione is virtually living 
> inside Harry.  It was at the beginning of Harry's conversation 
with 
> Luna -- when Luna commented "serenely" how people take her 
> possessions -- that Harry felt pity.  I think the importance of 
> their meeting was her own experience with and ability to accept 
> death despite her acknowledgement that the loss of her mother 
still 
> make her sad. (I see that Siriusly Snapey Susan has posted a 
similar 
> comment.) 
> 
> Also, Luna's acceptance of herself, despite the fact that others 
> take her possessions and call her Loony Lovegood behind her back, 
> may be the catalyst that will allow Harry to grow to accept the 
role 
> that has been thrust upon him.  She doesn't need to do it 
> proactively.  She doesn't even need to appear in HBP.  The brief 
> conversation at the end of OOP was all that was needed to plant 
the 
> notion in Harry's mind.  It's not a "redemption", just an idea 
that 
> nudges him in the right direction.
> 
> Hermione, on the other hand, tends to take a pro-active approach 
to 
> things.  She is a keen observer and implemented a number of 
schemes 
> to deal with his problems, but there's plenty of evidence that she 
> was not truly in sync with Harry.  A simple example is the 
homework 
> planner she gave him for Christmas.  She was trying to impose her 
> own organization and study methods on him, and it didn't work.  
And 
> she nagged him again and again about Occlumency without seeming to 
> appreciate Harry's attraction to the corridor.  Again, Hermione is 
> advocating her solutions to his problems instead of trying to 
> understand his needs. 
>  
> Now, if Luna is a counterbalance to Hermione, why did JKR wait 
until 
> now to introduce Luna to the story?  My simple answer to that 
> question is that JKR introduced her so late, and made her so odd, 
so 
> that we would not become too attached to her before JKR kills her 
> off.   If you think about it, her calm acceptance of death and 
> belief in the afterlife would soften the blow considerably.  
> 
> JKR has also laid a foundation for reader acceptance of that 
death.  
> In addition to her speech to Harry,  Luna's oddness (kooky 
jewelry, 
> upside down reading habits, lack of concern for her material 
> possessions) is itself an otherworldly characteristic.  She 
refuses 
> to conform to adolescent norms and seems at times to be very 
> detached from the world of the living; nevertheless, she does not 
> embrace death as a suicide-obsessed teen might.
> 
> There's also a parallel between Luna's introduction and Sirius' 
(and 
> Cedric's, too).  Sirius was not introduced as a character until 
PoA 
> (though he's mentioned in PS/SS ch. 1), and manages to last 
> approximately 2 books after we meet him.  We also don't get to 
know 
> him very well until OOP.  Likewise, Luna is introduced in OOP 
(with 
> an offhand reference to her family in GoF (the Portkey chapter), 
and 
> if she lasts through two books, her demise would take place 
sometime 
> in Book 7. Cedric is introduced ever so briefly in POA and we 
never 
> really get to know him well before he is dispatched in GoF.  
> 
> Yes, unfortunately, I believe Luna may be history before the 
series 
> is done. 
> 
> Debbie
> who approaches problems like Hermione but wears her wand like Luna

Dear all thank you very much for your answers. I don't try to run 
down Luna's role in the HP saga. At the end of OOTP HP was in a bad 
state and unable to get out from the endless loop between grief, 
anger and guilt. Luna was indeed the right person at the right time. 
She created feelings of pity inside Harry and therefore Harry 
temporarily escaped his isolation and introversion. That's the 
significant point. He was ready to think even for a while something 
else beside Sirius loss. I don't dissagree with the significance of 
the whole conversation between Luna and Harry but what JKR wanted 
was to alleviate Harry's bad emotional state at least for a while. 
Both the mirror and the headless Nick didn't work. Luna as the Deus 
Ex Machina made the difference. Consider her as an Aspirin. The real 
cure on the other hand is certainly Hermione (Not a shipping 
comment, Cease fire). Hermione during the whole saga has proved that 
she knows Harry like the back of her hand and understands him 
perfectly. She is the only one that can soothe him with her presence 
and her words and until now she was never wrong. All her actions 
helped him in the long run and that is what counts.

Cheers,
Paul