Luna Lovegood

Lovegood (c. 1996)

**Luna Scamander** (née **Lovegood**) (b. 13 February, 1981) was a British witch, the only child and daughter of Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood. Her mother accidentally died while experimenting with spells when Luna was nine and Luna was raised by her father, editor of the magazine *The Quibbler*, in a rook-like house near the village of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon.

Luna attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1992-1999 and was sorted into Ravenclaw House. In her fourth year, Luna joined Dumbledore's Army, an organisation taught and led by Harry Potter, of which she became an important member.

## Biography

### Early Life (1981-1992)

Luna was born on 13 February, 1981, the only child of Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood. It is presumed that Luna had a nice family life based on her later attitude about her life. However, this was all changed when Pandora was accidentally killed while experimenting with a spell that she created when Luna was nine years old. Thus, Luna was subsequently raised by Xenophilius alone for the rest of her life. As she witnessed her mother's death, she was able to see Thestrals, the magical skeletal black horses that led the Hogwarts carriages, from that point onward.

### Hogwarts Years (1992-1999)

#### Early Year

Luna attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1992 and was sorted into Ravenclaw House. One year behind the famous Harry Potter, she noticed Thestrals on her very first day of school, 1 September 1992.

During her years at Hogwarts, she was often teased by many of the other students due to her strange behaviour and odd beliefs. Some time during her early years at Hogwarts students had also taken to calling her "Loony Lovegood". Luna also met and became a friend of Ginny Weasley, who was in the same year as her. In the summer of 1994, she went to the Quidditch World Cup with her father.

In her third year at Hogwarts, she chose Divination as an elective. She may also have attended Study of Ancient Runes, as before the 1995–1996 school year, she was seen reading an article written about runes in *The Quibbler.*

#### Fourth Year

*Main Article: "1995-1996 school year"*

In Luna's fourth year, she met and befriended Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom. She also was one of the few who believed Harry's declaration that Lord Voldemort was back. As the year progressed, she was invited to join an underground Defence Against the Dark Arts group called Dumbledore's Army, which was taught and led by Harry Potter. This organisation was to teach practical defence so that students could fend off Death Eaters.

## Physical Appearance

In 1996, fifteen-year-old Luna had waist-length, straggly, dirty blonde hair, protuberant silvery eyes, which often seemed to be dreamily distracted, and faint eyebrows. She had an aura of "distinct dottiness" about her, and was known to put her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping.

Luna had a unique fashion sense that other people usually found bizarre. She often wore odd pieces of jewellery such as a Butterbeer cork necklace and Dirigible plum earrings, and in 1996, a pair of Spectrespecs. Luna also did not wear shoes because students in her house would take her shoes and hide them.

At Hogwarts Quidditch matches, Luna supported Gryffindor against every House except Ravenclaw; to show her support for Gryffindor, she would wear a hat in the shape of a lion head that roars, and to show support for Ravenclaw she would wear an eagle hat with flapping wings. She was described as "pretty" on some occasions, despite her odd clothes.

## Personality and Traits

Luna was an extremely quirky girl, with a serene disposition and many eccentric beliefs and qualities. She was a complete nonconformist; she lacked self-consciousness and was not afraid to show who she truly was. Luna was also intelligent and unusually perceptive, having been sorted into Ravenclaw *"where those of wit and learning will always find their kind.*"

Although many thought Luna was bizarre, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas and Ollivander eventually became very fond of her.

Luna's demeanour and voice were often distant and dreamy; she would drift away from a conversation she did not find interesting. However, whenever someone made fun of her father or his magazine *The Quibbler*, the dreamy quality in her voice would vanish and be replaced by one of steel, and she would immediately become very angry. She had an uncanny way of making others uncomfortable by being bluntly honest — Harry Potter described her as having a "*knack for embarrassing honesty*". She was also completely unflappable and rarely seemed anxious or stressed, even under difficult circumstances.

Luna was often the subject of ridicule and had difficulty making friends. Other students gave her the nickname of "Loony Lovegood" and even stole and hid her things. She was unfazed by this, and instead chose to be nonjudgmental and accepting of those around her.

Luna seemed to have enjoyed artistic pursuits in her free time; her house was filled with various things that she painted. She even painted very life-like portraits of her friends that seemed to breathe. Luna was very loyal to the few friends she had — she published Rita Skeeter's interview of Harry Potter on *The Quibbler* (March issue, 1996) during the latter's fifth year. Ron stated that she certainly has far more courage than her father, who was at the time stressed when under duress.