Outsiders in the Harry Potter Series: Luna Lovegood and Severus Snape
The Harry Potter series features characters who are slightly outside the mainstream of Wizard society. Harry Potter himself, is an outsider only in the sense that he is a wizarding icon. While he experiences problems due to his fame, he is not a social outsider. He does not have the same experiences as true social outsiders as Luna Lovegood and Severus Snape.
Both of these characters are rather rebellious in the fact that they are both determined to go their own way. However some of this strength can be attributed to their unpopularity among their peers. Luna and Severus share experiences of being taunted for their unconventionality. But they react in very different ways.
Luna Lovegood
The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. Harry knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. (Rowling 185)
Harry Potter's first impression of Luna Lovegood is that she has a strange way about her. He notes it in her face and her style of dress. However he was given notice of her "geek" status by Ginny Weasely. Ginny does not use Luna's proper name when discussing her with Harry and Neville. She calls Luna by her unflattering nickname,"Loony Lovegood" (185). The nickname is a red flag to all that Luna is an object of fun. It also indicates that while Ginny knows Luna, she is not friends with Luna. A friend would not discuss another friend by using a belittling nickname.
Luna, to her benefit, takes her own unpopularity in stride. She doesn't fight against it and doesn't allow it to pull her down. However she does show grit when her family or ideas are ridiculed. She also never backs down from a strongly held opinion.
"The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that."
"Excuse me, " said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. "My father's the editor".
"I-oh," said Hermione, looking embarrassed. "Well...it's got some interesting...I mean, it's quite..."
"I'll have it back, thank you," said Luna coldly, and leaning forward she snatched it out of Harry's hands. (Rowling 193)
Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" asked Ginny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"
"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"
"Yes, he is!" said Harry, Ron and Ginny angrily.
Harry glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat and quickly said, "Erm...yes...he's very good."
"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," said Luna, unfazed.
"You've got a rubbish sense of humor then," Ron snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into motion.
Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness; on the contrary, she simply watched him for awhile as thought he were a mildly interesting television program. (Rowling 200-201)
Luna Lovegood attaches herself onto Harry's crowd from time to time, but she is not accepted as a friend.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her," said Hermione. "Ginny's told me all about her, apparently she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler" (Rowling 262)
Luna's support of Harry during fifth year, which causes some attention from popular girls like Parvati and Lavender. They laugh at Luna's sense of fashion such as her radish earrings. Ernie MacMillan comes to Harry's defense as a result because, "it's not only weirdos that support" (Rowling 262) him.
Luna's status rises in the group because her father owns The Quibbler. Harry and Hermione use this paper as a forum to tell the story behind Voldemort's return. She also handled herself very well during the fight at the D.O.M, which earned her Harry's respect. Even if at times he takes pity on her. Luna drops her protective facade only with Harry at the end of OOTP. She indicates to Harry that she is well aware of her social status, "...they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Looney' Lovegood, actually" (Rowling 862). She also reveals to Harry that her mother was a very talented witch, "she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day" (Rowling 863). While she never becomes a close member of the Trio's circle, she is a valued acquaintance. This is done on her own terms and she never stoops to playing the victim.
Severus Snape
Severus, like Luna, has an odd appearance and is also very intelligent. They both have interests in unpopular subjects, Luna in unexplainable phenomena and Snape in the Dark Arts. These strange subjects cause their peers to marginalize them in school. However, the main difference between Luna and Snape is that Luna genuinely wants friends, "I enjoyed the meetings (DA) too," said Luna serenely. "It was like having friends" (Rowling, HBP, 138).
We have very little unbiased information on the young Severus Snape, but what we do have indicated he had a tendency to avoid company. This is supported by the chapter, "Snape's Worst Memory" in OOTP. Snape was alone, avoided other students and was studious.
..Snape followed, still poring over the paper and apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going. (Rowling 644)
...Snape had settled himself on the grass in the dense shadows of a clump of bushes. He was as deeply immersed in the O.W.L. paper as ever...(Rowling 644).
During this memory, Harry witnesses an unprovoked attack on Snape by his father, James. Harry notes that Snape, "is clearly unpopular" (Rowling 646) and received no immediate help. He does receive some assistance from Harry's mother, Lily.
"Whats he done to you?"
"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean...."
Many of the surrounding watchers laughed...(Rowling 647)
This scene contradicts many of Sirius present day assertions that Snape, "never lost an opportunity to curse James" (Rowling 671). Sirius also justified the Snape attack to Harry because, "Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts" (Rowling 670).
Despite help from Lily, Snape continued to go the loner's way. He regrettably pushes Lily away with a nasty remark, "I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her" (Rowling 648). Snape by his fifth year at Hogwarts, was quite used to being a target by bullies like James and Sirius. Since James was popular, anyone deemed unworthy by his group was most likely avoided by the rest of the students. Outside any Slytherin acquaintances Snape had, he was isolated. But HBP appears to corroborate Snape's opinion of James and he wasn't their only target.
James Potter and Sirius Black. Apprehended using an illegal hex upon Bertram Aubrey (Rowling, HBP 532).
...with a regular jolt in the stomach that meant he had just read his father or Sirius' names, usually coupled
together in various petty misdeeds, occasionally accompanied by those of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew (Rowling, HBP 532).
Unlike Luna, Snape never gains the respect of his peers. He remains an outsider and also becomes very bitter regarding his treatment. While he does remain independent during his school years, he allowed his desire for revenge to lead him to Voldemort's DE group.
Both characters serve as examples of Outsiders in the Wizarding World. They highlight the fact that there are rarely safety zones for wizards and witches with quirky behavior. While many, like Luna, do find their place and cause no harm to themselves or others. There are wizards/witches, like Snape, who do become malcontents and engage in criminality.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic, 2005
---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, 2004
Both of these characters are rather rebellious in the fact that they are both determined to go their own way. However some of this strength can be attributed to their unpopularity among their peers. Luna and Severus share experiences of being taunted for their unconventionality. But they react in very different ways.
Luna Lovegood
The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. Harry knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by. The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. (Rowling 185)
Harry Potter's first impression of Luna Lovegood is that she has a strange way about her. He notes it in her face and her style of dress. However he was given notice of her "geek" status by Ginny Weasely. Ginny does not use Luna's proper name when discussing her with Harry and Neville. She calls Luna by her unflattering nickname,"Loony Lovegood" (185). The nickname is a red flag to all that Luna is an object of fun. It also indicates that while Ginny knows Luna, she is not friends with Luna. A friend would not discuss another friend by using a belittling nickname.
Luna, to her benefit, takes her own unpopularity in stride. She doesn't fight against it and doesn't allow it to pull her down. However she does show grit when her family or ideas are ridiculed. She also never backs down from a strongly held opinion.
"The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that."
"Excuse me, " said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. "My father's the editor".
"I-oh," said Hermione, looking embarrassed. "Well...it's got some interesting...I mean, it's quite..."
"I'll have it back, thank you," said Luna coldly, and leaning forward she snatched it out of Harry's hands. (Rowling 193)
Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" asked Ginny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"
"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"
"Yes, he is!" said Harry, Ron and Ginny angrily.
Harry glared at Hermione; she cleared her throat and quickly said, "Erm...yes...he's very good."
"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," said Luna, unfazed.
"You've got a rubbish sense of humor then," Ron snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into motion.
Luna did not seem perturbed by Ron's rudeness; on the contrary, she simply watched him for awhile as thought he were a mildly interesting television program. (Rowling 200-201)
Luna Lovegood attaches herself onto Harry's crowd from time to time, but she is not accepted as a friend.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her," said Hermione. "Ginny's told me all about her, apparently she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler" (Rowling 262)
Luna's support of Harry during fifth year, which causes some attention from popular girls like Parvati and Lavender. They laugh at Luna's sense of fashion such as her radish earrings. Ernie MacMillan comes to Harry's defense as a result because, "it's not only weirdos that support" (Rowling 262) him.
Luna's status rises in the group because her father owns The Quibbler. Harry and Hermione use this paper as a forum to tell the story behind Voldemort's return. She also handled herself very well during the fight at the D.O.M, which earned her Harry's respect. Even if at times he takes pity on her. Luna drops her protective facade only with Harry at the end of OOTP. She indicates to Harry that she is well aware of her social status, "...they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Looney' Lovegood, actually" (Rowling 862). She also reveals to Harry that her mother was a very talented witch, "she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day" (Rowling 863). While she never becomes a close member of the Trio's circle, she is a valued acquaintance. This is done on her own terms and she never stoops to playing the victim.
Severus Snape
Severus, like Luna, has an odd appearance and is also very intelligent. They both have interests in unpopular subjects, Luna in unexplainable phenomena and Snape in the Dark Arts. These strange subjects cause their peers to marginalize them in school. However, the main difference between Luna and Snape is that Luna genuinely wants friends, "I enjoyed the meetings (DA) too," said Luna serenely. "It was like having friends" (Rowling, HBP, 138).
We have very little unbiased information on the young Severus Snape, but what we do have indicated he had a tendency to avoid company. This is supported by the chapter, "Snape's Worst Memory" in OOTP. Snape was alone, avoided other students and was studious.
..Snape followed, still poring over the paper and apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going. (Rowling 644)
...Snape had settled himself on the grass in the dense shadows of a clump of bushes. He was as deeply immersed in the O.W.L. paper as ever...(Rowling 644).
During this memory, Harry witnesses an unprovoked attack on Snape by his father, James. Harry notes that Snape, "is clearly unpopular" (Rowling 646) and received no immediate help. He does receive some assistance from Harry's mother, Lily.
"Whats he done to you?"
"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean...."
Many of the surrounding watchers laughed...(Rowling 647)
This scene contradicts many of Sirius present day assertions that Snape, "never lost an opportunity to curse James" (Rowling 671). Sirius also justified the Snape attack to Harry because, "Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts" (Rowling 670).
Despite help from Lily, Snape continued to go the loner's way. He regrettably pushes Lily away with a nasty remark, "I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her" (Rowling 648). Snape by his fifth year at Hogwarts, was quite used to being a target by bullies like James and Sirius. Since James was popular, anyone deemed unworthy by his group was most likely avoided by the rest of the students. Outside any Slytherin acquaintances Snape had, he was isolated. But HBP appears to corroborate Snape's opinion of James and he wasn't their only target.
James Potter and Sirius Black. Apprehended using an illegal hex upon Bertram Aubrey (Rowling, HBP 532).
...with a regular jolt in the stomach that meant he had just read his father or Sirius' names, usually coupled
together in various petty misdeeds, occasionally accompanied by those of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew (Rowling, HBP 532).
Unlike Luna, Snape never gains the respect of his peers. He remains an outsider and also becomes very bitter regarding his treatment. While he does remain independent during his school years, he allowed his desire for revenge to lead him to Voldemort's DE group.
Both characters serve as examples of Outsiders in the Wizarding World. They highlight the fact that there are rarely safety zones for wizards and witches with quirky behavior. While many, like Luna, do find their place and cause no harm to themselves or others. There are wizards/witches, like Snape, who do become malcontents and engage in criminality.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic, 2005
---. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, 2004