The Sad Truth About Luna Lovegood That Harry Potter Fans Forget

The Wizarding World is full of eccentric characters. From the loveable Hagrid, with his passion for befriending and accumulating dangerous and exotic pets, and Professor Trelawney, with her unique fashion sense and mostly questionable prophetic abilities, to Slughorn, and his affinity to "collect" students for his Slug Club, there are many who bring a distinctive wonder to the Harry Potter universe. And there's probably no character as eccentric and endearing as Luna Lovegood. Throughout the series, Luna proves she not only lives her life according to her own rules — reading the Quibbler upside down, suspecting Nargles are behind her missing shoes — but that she is also one of the few who remain a loyal and consistent ally to Harry Potter.

But, despite Luna living by her own standards and displaying unwavering loyalty, fans may forget that the Ravenclaw student has an unfortunate backstory, one that reveals a sad truth about her family. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) stands in the forest with Luna (Evanna Lynch), gazing at the Thestrals — mythical winged horses — standing nearby. She tells him they are gentle, but people avoid them because they are "different." Harry wants to know why others can't see them. "They can only be seen by people who have seen death," Luna tells him, meaning she has lost someone close to her.

When Harry inquires as to who Luna knew who died, she tells him it was her mother. "She was quite an extraordinary witch, but she did like to experiment and one day one of her spells went badly wrong. I was nine." Luna admits to Harry, who also mourned the untimely death of his mother, "it was rather horrible" and matter-of-factly states that she does "feel very bad about it sometimes.

Though some fans may not remember Luna's tragic backstory, they can easily remember her most charming moments. Luna provided a sense of levity, honesty, and comic relief in dark times. When nobody believed Harry's assertion that Voldemort was coming back, Luna stood by and reassured him that both she and her equally eccentric father, Xenophilius, believe him (his name is formed from the Greek roots for "strange" or "alien" and "affection" and "fondness" — go figure). And it's hard to forget memorable Luna lines like: "I hope there's pudding" when she and the group travel to Hogwarts or her telling Harry he looks "exceptionally ordinary" after fixing his broken nose.

For all her awkward charm, don't forget that Luna also fought in Battle of Hogwarts, bravely challenging Bellatrix Lestrange. She also helped Harry locate one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, in the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. It's no wonder fans like to ship Luna and Harry, which is evident in many a YouTube video or Reddit thread espousing the idea. Luckily, while Harry marries Ginny, according to J.K. Rowling from a 2007 webchat, Luna marries Rolf Scamander, the grandson of Fantastic Beasts Magizoologist Newt Scamander, later in life. This unique pairing might be for the best, as Newt and his family's quirks likely pair up more fittingly with the traits of the Lovegoods.