Harry/Luna (Harry Potter)
Title: Leap Of Faith
Author:
simply_strangeSpoilers: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Email: pasta.puttanesca@gmail.com
Notes:
Well, here I go on my attempt to write an essay for my OTP. And this might not be a very well-written essay, but I tried my best. This will just be a simple essay, and straight-to-the-point I hope. Oh and Please. No ship wars. I would love H/L to be canon, even if it’s 5% chance out of a 100, but it’s canon possibilities isn’t the reason I ship it. Thank you.
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I. Just an introduction..
I must say I’m pretty lucky to be able to make a
ship_manifesto essay for my OTP. I’m Cheska, and yes, you might recognize me as the webmistress of
Katie Leung Fan. I got into the Harry Potter fandom right after I watched the 1st movie. The rest, I say, is too much to type on here.
When I first started reading OOTP, I was a Harry/Hermione shipper. A die-hard one. But all the moments between this certain new character and our dear beloved hero got me. I just knew that Harry/Luna will be a pairing I’ll be shipping nonstop as soon as I finished reading OOTP. And even after HBP, I still ship it. I’ll never be tired of this pairing.
Why? The relationship between Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood is different, yes, and that’s what makes it unique. Luna has this ability to understand Harry in a way that nobody could. Not even Dumbledore, Hagrid, nor his own best friends he’d known for 5 years. Yes, Harry does find Luna a bit weird, but he doesn’t call her Loony (and even corrects himself when he does), and just mentions her randomly just when he was about to kiss his crush in 5th year. Yes, by the end of 5th year, Luna had a place in Harry’s circle of friends because she had faith in him, and showed him that not all hope is lost. If their friendship somehow develops into something more, it would certainly be beautiful.
and it’s a leap of faith,
When you believe there’s someone out there,
It’s a leap of faith when you believe that someone cares.
-- “Leap Of Faith” by Michelle Branch
And here I go to try and show you how this eccentric pairing works.
II. The Hero - Harry James Potter
Is there really one word to describe Harry Potter? I’m afraid not. He pretty much has a complex life, having been raised by cruel Muggle relatives who never even told him about the wizarding world, and how he’s a part of it. When he does find out, though, he realizes it’s more complicated than that. He was famous. Famous for something that changed his life completely. Because of that, hardly anybody sees him for who he really is. It’s a great desire of his to be normal. He gets into a lot of trouble because of the fact that he isn’t afraid to take risks, and often acts without thinking. He’s a true Gryffindor and will do anything to protect the people he loves and cares about.
Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I’ll never see
It may sound absurd...but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
It’s not easy to be me
-- “Superman” by Five For Fighting
III. The Dreamer - Luna Lovegood
Luna Lovegood, I have to say is a pretty interesting character. She makes her first appearance in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and we immediately get a feel of her eccentricity. We also find out that her father is the editor of The Quibbler, which is an odd magazine. Luna’s mother, meanwhile (described extraordinary by Luna herself) died while working on an experiment when Luna was 9 years old. What’s worse was Luna saw the whole tragedy right before her eyes. In my opinion, I think the death of her Mum changed her life, just like the way Harry’s’ parents’ death changed his life. Luna believes in the unbelievable and odd things herself and that’s why she's always quite alone. She is called “Loony Lovegood” behind her back because of her strange ways, and yet she doesn’t mind. She’s always precarious but always stands up for what she believes in. She doesn’t let anyone get her down, but not in a way that Harry would do. She just ignores people who make fun of her, instead of fighting them back. Luna’s also a Ravenclaw, because of her desire to learn. She always wants the truth behind things.
She's fading away, away from this world.
Drifting like a feather she's not like the other girls.
She lives in the clouds and talks to the birds.
Hopeless little one she's not like the other girls I know
-- “Not Like The Other Girls” by The Rasmus
IV. The Moments
Harry/Luna moments in OOTP and HBP are not what you would really say romantic, but they touch your heart and will make you see how the two characters can work as a couple.
She Reassures Him:
'It's all right,' said a dreamy voice from beside Harry as Ron vanished into the coach's dark interior. 'You're not going mad or anything. I can see them, too.'
'Can you?' said Harry desperately, turning to Luna. He could see the bat-winged horses reflected in her wide silvery eyes.
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Can't anyone else hear it?' Harry demanded, for the whispering and murmuring was becoming louder; without really meaning to put it there, he found, his foot was on the dais.
'I can hear them too,' breathed Luna, joining them around the side of the archway and gazing at the swaying veil. 'There are people in there!’
Harry, ever since Cedric’s death, started seeing and hearing things he wasn’t able to before. His greatest desire to be normal wasn’t near to being fulfilled; in fact it just got farther. When he was suddenly able to see the Thestrals and hear voices beyond the veil he felt alone and isolated but Luna changed that. She made him feel better because she can also hear and see things nobody else can. Seeing death before their eyes created a connection, quite a strong bond between them. Death, as depressing as it may sound, is actually a major part of Harry’s life. It’s a part of why he’s the person he is, and Luna will always be there to reassure him that he is “just as sane” as she is.
He Felt Heartened…
Harry could hear Luna's ludicrous lion hat roaring amidst the Gryffindor cheers and felt heartened…
The lion hat that when tapped by Luna’s wand roars a very realistic roar. It was supposed to be chewing a serpent to represent Slytherin if only Luna had more time. The one that put Harry in quite a shock?
Yes, it made him feel heartened, and completely changed his whole perspective of the game, when a few seconds before he was frantic to find the Snitch.
Certain H/L shippers, like me for instance, just love this moment. It’s a small one, really, and happens fast, but it shows something.
Luna’s odd, strange ways will always find a way to make Harry feel better. Her ability to believe in the extraordinary is a perfect fit for Harry’s not-so-ordinary life.
He Called Her Cool
People expect you to have cooler friends than us,' said Luna, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty.
'You are cool,' said Harry shortly. 'None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me,'
'That's a very nice thing to say,' beamed Luna, and she pushed her Spectrespecs further up her nose and settled down to read The Quibbler.
One of the few H/L moments in HBP. Luna is no longer the weird, random, Ravenclaw girl he barely knows. Luna’s a “cool person” to Harry now because of all the help she had given him last year. This is basically like his thanks to her... and shows that Harry finds a real friend in her. And have you noticed, that mostly in OOTP, she’s preferred as Luna Lovegood? Usually all minor characters like that are called with their full names at first mention. But in late OOTP and HBP, she’s just Luna now to Harry. That’s of some importance to their relationship isn’t it?
A Stranger Speaking…
'How would you like to come to Slughorn's party with me tonight?'
The words were out of Harry's mouth before he could stop them; he heard himself say them as though it were a stranger speaking.
Luna turned her protuberant eyes upon him in surprise.
'Slughorn's party? With you?'
'Yeah,' said Harry. 'We're supposed to bring guests, so I thought you might like ... I mean ...' He was keen to make his intentions perfectly clear. 'I mean, just as friends, you know. But if you don't want to ...'
He was already half-hoping she didn't want to.
I agree with Ron’s reaction, Harry really could’ve gone with anyone, but why did he choose Luna? Maybe he tried to make his intentions perfectly clear, that he just wants to go with her in a "just friends" manner, but the interesting part here is that ‘he heard himself say them as though a stranger speaking’. It looks like Harry doesn’t even know he likes Luna.
purple_quill made a really good point in a H/L community about this. It could be Harry’s subconscious finally speaking up.
The Odd Feeling
An odd feeling rose in Harry; an emotion quite different from the anger and grief that had filled him since Sirius' death. It was a few moments before he realized that he was feeling sorry for Luna.
'How come people hide your stuff?' he asked her, frowning.
'Oh ... well ...' she shrugged. 'I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me "Loony" Lovegood, actually.'
Harry looked at her and the new feeling of pity intensified rather painfully.
'That's no reason for them to take your things,' he said flatly. 'D'you want help finding them?'
'Oh, no,' she said, smiling at him. 'They'll come back; they always do in the end. It was just that I wanted to pack tonight. Anyway ... why aren't you at the feast?'
Harry shrugged. 'Just didn't feel like it.'
'No,' said Luna, observing him with those oddly misty, protuberant eyes. 'I don't suppose you do. That man the Death Eaters killed was your godfather, wasn't he? Ginny told me.'
Harry nodded curtly, but found that for some reason he did not mind Luna talking about Sirius. He had just remembered that she, too, could see Thestrals.
'Have you ...' he began. 'I mean, who...has anyone you known ever died?'
'Yes,' said Luna simply, 'my mother. She was a quite extraordinary witch, you know, but she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day. I was nine.'
'I'm sorry,' Harry mumbled.
'Yes, it was rather horrible,' said Luna conversationally. 'I still feel very sad about it sometimes. But I've still got Dad. And anyway, it's not as though I'll never see Mum again, is it?'
'Er - isn't it?' said Harry uncertainly.
She shook her head in disbelief.
'Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you?'
'You mean ...'
'In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them.'
They looked at each other. Luna was smiling slightly. Harry did not know what to say, or to think; Luna believed so many extraordinary things ... yet he had been sure he heard voices behind the yeil, too.
'Are you sure you don't want me to help you look for your stuff?' he said.
'Oh, no,' said Luna. 'No, I think I'll just go down and have some pudding and wait for it all to turn up ... it always does in the end ... well, have a nice holiday, Harry.'
'Yeah ... yeah, you too.'
She walked away from him, and, as he watched her go, he found that the terrible weight in his stomach seemed to have lessened slightly.
As I said before, Luna’s ability to believe in extraordinary things can help Harry, a lot. All throughout Order of the Phoenix, we get a whole new different Harry, and Sirius’ death just changed him more. Important people in Harry’s life couldn’t do anything. But Luna, her simple act of telling him that ‘they were just lurking out of sight’ helped him move on through this difficult obstacle. That is pretty much why Luna becomes quite an important person in Harry’s life. I find it sad that she was hardly in Half-Blood Prince.
It was you who picked the pieces up
When I was a broken soul
And then glued me back together
Returned to me what others stole
-- “Sway” by The Perishers
V. The Reason
I really love the way Harry/Luna is shown in the books, specifically Order of the Phoenix. From the day that Harry saw the Thestrals to the night that Luna posted up a list of her lost belongings, you could really see their strong bond and the friendship that they formed. Sadly it was hardly ongoing in Half-Blood Prince, but we do see that Harry really considered Luna as a real friend that would stick by his side no matter what.
I think that Harry needs Luna as much as he needs Ron and Hermione. Luna has an ability that Ron and Hermione couldn’t do that’s important in Harry’s life: to believe in the unbelievable. Obviously not everything in Harry’s life can be explained by logic because well, he IS the Chosen one.
I also think that they both seem to be excluded in a way, and that they can definitely find comfort in each other. They have a lot of things in common, even if they seem so different.
The beautiful thing about this ship is that Luna has faith in Harry, whatever happens, and he’s the person she believes in the most. Harry, meanwhile, finds hope in Luna, and accepts her for who she really is.
The connection is exceptional, even if they’re just close friends or a romantic couple. In Order of the Phoenix, the bond formed, and in Half-Blood Prince, we could tell that Harry really appreciates all that Luna has done for him.
Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there
-- “Drops Of Jupiter” by Train
VI. The Fanon
Fanfiction
Let The Sun Inside by
fivil The Only Thing They Ever Feared by
dearladydisdainCharade by
goldy_dollarComing To An Understanding by
darklymoonlitSitting On A Tree by
mrs_luthorFlights Of Fancy by
goldy_dollarA Sight Unseen by
heron_advocateCountdown by
_fullofgrace -- this one I highly recommend. Probably my most favorite H/L fanfiction so far.
Dried Tears ,
Luna’s Midsummer Letter, and
Luna’s Valentine by
michelle31a Fanart
This and
This by
venire_iciThis by
lroy Communities
loonieslionsoddly_perfecthpll_ficathon Must-Click
Beautiful Alone , the TFL.org approved Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood relationship fanlisting.
Current
H/L Cookie Jar in FAP.
Current
H/L FanForum ThreadMy LJ friend
_____faith is doing this really nice magazine article on post-Hogwarts H/L. It's really nice and refreshing. Click
here to see the archives of the article pages.
I'm also working on a Harry/Luna fansite. It's almost done, and will probably be open a week from now. Stay tuned for that.
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I would like to thank my dear LJ friend
goldy_dollar for inspiring me to pluck up the courage to write this manifesto. I'm not sure if my essay can ever compete with your H/Hr one, but I tried my best.
And that is all. Goodnight.