Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Blog 3: Luna's disappearing Act

Harry Potter was my childhood. I grew up with Harry. I avidly awaited all of the books, and grew as Harry and the other students of Hogwarts did. By the time the last book came around, I was both devastated and excited. I loved how the story came round to an end. Dumbledore was not the all knowing "Mary-Sue" of the universe. (A Mary-Sue is known in the world of fanfiction as the perfect character with no flaws.) Severus Snape has shown his true colors. Neville ends up as the Professor in his favorite subject, years after slaying Nagini. Harry defeats Voldemort, marries his lady-ginger, and has beautiful children. Hermione and Ron finally get over their attitudes and end up together. We learn  Draco ends up with a wife and a son, who is the same age as Albus and Rose. We even get to learn of Teddy, Lupin and Tonks son, and his affair with Victoire, Fleur and Bills daughter. Nearly every major character who majorly helped Harry in his coming-of-age quest is mentioned in the epilogue....

Except Luna. Yes, she gets mentioned as the middle name of Harry's daughter. Yes, later JK announces a wizarding genealogy and it is shown she gets married and finds love with someone who shows her avid interest in potentially-not-real creatures. But, when I poured through the epilogue  trying to learn about the future of my only favorite character who hadn't died, I saw nothing. I remember being extremely disappointed the first time I read it.

Luna, even though she doesn't come in until the fifth book, becomes a very integral part of the story. She's with Harry in the department of mysteries. She's his date to Slughorns Party. She is held captive in the Malfoys home, which is Voldemorts main base, and she manages to come out of it completely ok. Luna is strong, brilliant, and generally doesn't give a damn what others say about her. True, she didn't destroy a Horcrux, but she did come back and fight in the final battle of Hogwarts. She was there for Harry when she needed him. She deserved a place in that epilogue. Luna deserved resolution in the actual books, instead of as an extra thought later by JK Rowling. I enjoyed the rest of the resolution, but Luna's disappearance has irked me and will continue to irk me as a blight to my favorite series for a long time.

No comments:

Post a Comment