Luna's silvery eyes ( Was: Lily Evans Potter)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 161952

lp wrote:
<snip>
> 
> As far a being a seer goes Harry has shown no sign so far
> of possessing any future insight, at least none that I can
> recall.  I think it would be a lot to throw on him in the
> last book with everything else he's going to have to deal
> with.  I can imagine that talent coming to one of his
> friends, though.  I like to think that fate might give his
> friends some extra tools to help in is quest.  We also
> don't know as many details of his friends' activities in
> the books, so I think it could be fit in more easily.  It
> could also help to re-enforce his need for friends and co-
> operation instead of being the solitary hero.

Carol responds:

Nice first post! My apologies for diverting the topic from Lily, but I
thought this paragraph was more interesting. Since there is such a
thing as a true Prophecy in the Potterverse, including one that
doesn't require the foreknowledge of at least one participant
attempting to thwart it (Trelawney's PoA prophecy), it's quite
possible that Divination is more useful than HRH, McGonagall, and
Dumbledore have given it credit for being. If that's the case, it will
indeed be useful if one of Harry's friends has that gift.

I agree with you that we haven't seen any indication that Harry can
see into the future (and, though Ron and the Twins have occasionally
made correct predictions, I don't think they have any talent for
Divination, either). Hermione, of course, was hopeless at the subject.

Luna, however, is another matter. She's the intuitive type who
wouldn't let the nonrational nature of Divination stand in her way
when Trelawney tells her to "look beyond" the mundane. She believes in
creatures that no one else in the WW (except her equally loony father)
believes in, so it's unlikely that she would question crystal balls
and tea leaves as predictors of the future. We haven't seen her in
Divination class, of course, since she's not in Harry's year (or in
Gryffindor), but Trelawney seems disappointed that Luna isn't in her
class in HBP, indicating that Trelawney, at least, thinks she has an
affinity for the subject. And we know that she heard voices beyond the
Veil, apparently more clearly than Harry did. (Neville, who can also
see Thestrals because he saw his grandfather die, doesn't seem to have
heard them at all, IIRC). Granted, Parvati and Lavender have also
shown at least an interest in the subject, suggesting that they saw
something more than soggy tea leaves and fog, but they're not core DA
members who showed up for the fight in the MoM or when Hermione
summoned them in HBP. So even though Luna will most likely be at
Hogwarts if its's open rather than with Harry for most of the book, I
still see her as the most likely member of Harry's generation to have
the gift of Second Sight.

Everyone keeps talking about Lily's eyes, which IMO have already
played their part via Slughorn's memory. (Okay, I know there's that
quote about a kind of magic that uses the eyes that seems to be tied
in with Lily, but I'm not convinced. We've seen eye magic (Legilimency
and Occlumency), which does not seem to be related to eye color. DD's
are blue, Voldemort's are now red, and Snape's are black. Harry, who
is hopeless at Occlumency and has only a peculiar form of Legilimency
with Voldemort because of the scar link, is the only one with green
eyes. No connection between Lily and eye magic that I can see.)

But Luna's eyes may be important. At any rate, they're peculiar:
protuberant, silvery, and misty. I was reminded when I first read her
description in OoP of Ollivander, who also has misty, silvery eyes
(and seems to be the first Legilimens we encounter, knowing that
Hagrid has kept his wand). 

Mr. Ollivander's eyes are described several times in "Diagon Alley"
(SS/PS, all references to the Scholastic edition): 

"An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like
moons through the gloom of the shop" (82).

"Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink.
Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy" (82).

"Mr. Ollivander came so close that he and Harry were almost nose to
nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes"
[Legilimency, anybody?] (83).

Three descriptions in two pages? JKR wants us to remember those eyes.

Compare the descriptions of Luna's eyes in "Luna Lovegood" (OoP,
Scholastic edition):

"The girl beside the window looked up. She had . . . very protuberant
eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look" (185).

"She did not seem to blink as much as normal humans" (185). 

"Luna turned her pale eyes on him instead" (185).

"Luna Lovegood's popping eyes appeared over the top of her upside-down
magazine" (187).

"Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring
at Ron" (190).

"He could see the bat-winged horses reflected in her wide, silvery
eyes" (199).

Six references to Luna's eyes in her introductory chapter alone. I
recall similar descriptions later in OoP and again in HBP but won't
quote them. The protuberant eyes seem to be peculiar to Luna, but note
that both her eyes and Ollivander's are described as "silvery" and
"misty" and that Harry can see himself reflected in both Ollivander's
eyes and Luna's. (Is Luna a natural Legilimens? Or maybe she simply
has an uncanny intuitive understanding of Harry.)

Carol, wondering if anyone else thinks that Luna may be a Seer or
connected with Ollivander and, if not, what's up with those silvery eyes