The world of Harry Potter has an especially colourful cast. Whether it be the heroes friends, their adversaries, or those who sit somewhere in between, each character is unforgettable. Fans have those they love (and those they love to hate), but among those most cherished is one girl who Harry describes as having an air of “dottiness.”
After the Golden Trio, one encounters the so called Silver Trio, which is made up of Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood. Luna is the most distinct of the three, bringing with her, not only radish earrings and specter specs, but her own way of seeing the world, an exciting career, her own oddball companions, and an attitude which easily endears her to readers.
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1) A Unique Perspective
Luna’s way of seeing the world is unusual, but refreshing. She’s essentially a conspiracy theorist; we all have that one friend who believes in the wildest stories. Who doesn’t know someone who claims aliens exist, and they’re going to find them? Such out of the box thinking not only makes Luna relatable, but endearing, but her personality goes beyond her wild beliefs.
Luna isn’t distracted by the mundane. This isn’t to say she isn’t interested in doing well at school, or dressing up, but she recognizes that there are more important things—such as helping friends, or seeing people for what they are. Despite her abstract demeanor, Luna is actually very aware of what’s happening around her, a trait which would make her an engaging protagonist. She knows she’s being bullied, and she knows when someone is being unkind. When Harry can’t understand the isolation he’s facing in Order of the Phoenix, it’s Luna who’s able to explain it to him and to cheer him up.
The Ravenclaw with the radish earrings has the capability of considering the perspective of others, despite how alone she often is. She puts herself in Voldemort’s shoes, explaining to Harry that Voldemort would want him to feel more alone, more cut off, and therefore weaker. Seeing Luna consider the perspectives of others as she tackles problems throughout her adventures would open up new ways of problem solving unique to her character.
Luna also knows she’s being bullied, but her ability to shrug it off makes her less of a target in the long run. This isn’t to say she doesn’t feel the pain of being picked on, but she doesn’t give her opponents the satisfaction of seeing her upset. Eventually, people will leave her alone, because her seeming indifference takes most of the fun out of bothering her. Having a character who hides her irritation is a rare trait to have in a protagonist, and having her actual feelings juxtaposed with what she shows the world could add a layer to her story, even if it’s still told in third person.
If Luna’s way of thinking wasn’t already enough of a sell, there’s her strange beliefs. This, again, goes beyond her oddball conspiracies. Luna is exactly the kind of person who would believe in six impossible things before breakfast. It’s Luna who points Harry towards speaking with Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena’s daughter and the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower, sometimes called The Grey Lady. Luna’s solutions are direct; in fact, her suggestion to speak to a Ravenclaw relation to discover a Ravenclaw artifact seems quite sensible. Like Hermione, Luna can cut past the noise and find the direct solution—though Luna outsmarts Hermione in this instant, coming up with a solution no one else can. It’s a moment which shows why she’s in Ravenclaw. In her own quiet way, Luna is brilliant.
2) Brilliance
Luna was in Ravenclaw. Not much is seen of her, but she’s able to solve riddles, think of unusual solutions to problems, and likely does well in school. Hermione might be the obvious brainiac, but Luna was sorted into the house which celebrates intelligence. To be in Ravenclaw, you have to be a problem solver, someone who can think on your feet and be creative in your approach. Ravenclaws can’t just be bookish and well read; they need an artistic side, a creativity which will allow them to approach problems in ways nobody else can.
If Luna was to go on her own adventures, her solutions to conflict would be unpredictable for readers. If she was tasked with catching a dangerous creature, the wizards around her would suggest stunning it and locking it up. Luna, though, would be cleverer: she might entice the beast with chocolate chip cookies, and keep it in a house filled with it’s favourite things, choosing to befriend it rather than outright imprison it. The beast would be distracted from eating people, satisfying the original objective, and those who would have been tasked with stunning it would be spared injuries.
This is a hypothetical scenario, but in an adventure driven by Luna, the answers to many problems would be unorthodox—therefore, they’d be refreshing to read about. Nobody would be able to predict what Luna was going to do, adding a layer of curiousity to the journey.
3) Career Choices
One can’t talk about the possibility of a Luna Lovegood spin off without mentioning what she did after Hogwarts. Luna married into none other than the Scamander family, becoming a hunter of strange and magical creatures. She spent her life traveling the world in hopes of proving the existence of those monsters others had dismissed.
What made the first Fantastic Beasts film charming were the portions in which Newt, with his quirky demeanor, actually did what the film’s title promised: Newt caught fantastic creatures. The title of the films suggested this would be the focus: Newt is a Magizoologist, determined to not only capture creatures and study them, but befriend them as well. He wants to understand the animals, and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of their abilities and where they can be located. When the films chose to focus on Grindewald and war, fans were disappointed—not only because of the films’ execution, but because of how it veered from the original premise: the fantastic beasts seem largely forgotten. The idea which charmed people—meeting the Wizarding World’s colourful crazy critters—was lost.
This is where Luna comes in. As a creature hunter herself, a series about her could revive this idea. Grindewald has been defeated and Voldemort is dead; there are no chances of distraction. While a big bad would likely emerge to create a deeper dilemma, his actions would be tied into the actual premise of the story. The villain could be someone who kills animals to create advanced potions; he or she could be someone who is a creature themselves, determined to exact revenge on the human Wizarding populace. There are endless ways to tie the villain, and the plot, into that central idea of studying fantastic beasts, and debunking the existence of those which aren’t even covered in the books.
Luna’s backstory even gives her an objective to launch the series: Luna wants to find, and prove the existence of, the Crumple Horned Snorkack. The bio notes that Luna never finds this creature, but this doesn’t mean she couldn’t come close to finding it, ultimately deciding it should be left alone, or that she could find something even more incredible. The bio is vague enough that anything, short of Luna sharing the Snorkack with the world, could happen. The idea that Luna doesn’t find it may also just be the “official” version of events, put out by Luna to protect the creature’s welfare. Whatever the case, seeing Luna travel the world, encountering magical beasts, sounds like a fun adventure for all ages, and one we want a second crack at.
4) A Positive Attitude
This ties into Luna’s perspective on the world, but this is an attribute which translates more directly to the page. Luna isn’t cheerful in the sense that she’ll hug everyone she meets, but in her tendency to remain unfazed. She always has a smile, albeit a dreamy one, to spare for a friend, and the fact she remains friends with Ron, despite noting how unkind he can be, is a testament to her forgiveness. Luna never seems to hold a grudge against anyone. Instead, she tries to understand people, and sees the light side of their actions. People steal her belongings and hide them; Luna says it’s in “good fun,” highlighting her tendency to see the better side of others, even when she can recognize their lesser qualities.
We all love sarcastic Harry or irritated Hermione. We love characters who react, who get angry, who lose their cool…but there’s room for a protagonist who isn’t like others. If someone called Luna a name, she wouldn’t hex them. She would smile, and say how unfortunate it was that her bully’s head was full of wrackspurts. She wouldn’t be making fun of her bully either—she would honestly believe they were infested, and that the creatures were the reason for their meanness towards Luna. Then she would walk away, leaving the bully to stare after her in stupefied silence. Who wouldn’t want to read passages like that, where Luna conquered rudeness with indifference and no short measure of strangeness?
5) The Characters
Luna marries Newt’s grandson, Rolf, and has twin boys, Lorcan and Lysander. If meeting Luna’s family, and exploring their peculiarities, wasn’t enough, Luna also encounters other people within her field. Luna encounters a member of what is known as the Statute of Secrecy Taskforce; she instructs others on how to catch magical creatures, and wows everyone with her knowledge.
These are the only characters noted in her bio, but a book would easily introduce others. It’s likely Rolf has friends, and that both naturalists have colleagues they must contend with. Some of these colleagues may even be rivals; one could be the villain, more interested in sticking the creatures in a zoo for study, than in focusing on their welfare.
Luna’s travels may even take her into Charlie’s sphere, if a particular mission involved dragons. Having an excuse to see Ron’s brother as a much larger character, and to see what Charlie’s day to day life involved, would be a treat. Then there’s Luna’s father. The honesty he displays in the Quibbler could land him in greater trouble; it’s possible Harry could even be cited as endorsing it, leading to mass popularity for the magazine, and ultimately more scrutiny of Mr. Lovegood himself. Luna would then be tasked with helping her father, only to find out mystical creatures have been involved in his capture; she might recognize the signs left behind as belonging to an elusive creature nobody believes in. Her opponent may even have an intricate knowledge of the Quibbler’s lore, using it against Luna.
Readers could be treated to more backstory regarding Luna’s mother. Who was she? All we know is that she liked to experiment, and that she was killed, when Luna was only 9, by a spell which backfired. Is there a grave Luna visits? Did her mother ever write a book, or leave behind a legacy? Was there a lab, a particular spot where she perished?
Little is known of Lorcan or Lysander, which keeps their stories open. It’s possible one of the boys could enjoy experimenting with magic, leading him down the same path as his grandmother. This would present a conflict for Luna. Though she’s all for believing in yourself and following your passions, she may worry that her son could be killed in a manner similar to her mother; this would allow for backstory to be woven in, and for readers to learn more about the family still remaining.
Who were Newt’s children? Who was Newt’s wife? This story could complement a conclusion to the films nicely, tying the Scamander’s in while being far enough removed to let new stories breathe.
As far as characters are concerned, the possibilities are endless—not only because of Luna’s family, but because of the exciting field she works in.
In Conclusion
Luna Lovegood deserves to have her own story, not only because of her unique manner and positive attitude, but because of the colourful family she belongs to, the daring career path she’s chosen, and the unusual characters she is likely to meet.
We all wanted Fantastic Beasts to be about…the fantastic beasts, and a story featuring the refreshing protagonist of Luna Lovegood would be the perfect excuse to revisit that premise.
Even if the story wasn’t penned by Rowling, there’s a great deal of material for fan fiction writers to work with, as well as a backstory that’s vague enough to be filled in with whatever a writer chooses.
Please excuse me while I take these ideas, and write my own series.
What characters would you want to see get their own spin offs? What adventures could you see Luna having? Let me know!