Extra Credit Post: Luna Lovegood

As the Harry Potter series comes to an end, Luna Lovegood is essentially the only character who remains unchanged in my mind- a trait I appreciate. Luna is always unapologetically herself, something we see throughout the entire series and remains true even in the end. I appreciate how we see Luna's contribution in the final battle by aiding Harry in his quest to the diadem and I so wish that we saw more of her. While we know Luna is highly intelligent- for she is in Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, we never see her intelligence in a school setting. We see and almost are able to finally validate her standing in Ravenclaw house when she answers the riddle to enter the house and in the hypothesizing she and harry do in the tower. We already know of  Luna's intelligence, for we see her intelligence in the way she speaks to her friends, and often in the sage advice she offers to her peers. Luna always has a different perspective from the direction the story is going and the way her friends are thinking and she's never afraid to offer this opinion. The way Luna is presented to us earlier in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is when she has been captured and is imprisoned in the Malfoy Manor with Olivander, the wand maker and then still at Shell Cottage. Again, Luna fulfills her role as the character we expect her to be, and while some may see this an underdeveloped character or a static one at best, I appreciate greatly the voice that Luna provides and see this as a testament to her character that she has already uncovered what so many of her peers are trying to find and that is a way to be themselves. Luna develops as a character as the series continues as we learn more about her past and in a social way as she makes friends, always remaining loyal and true to those she cares for.