Sirius and Luna: When Timelines Collide
Ever since Luna Lovegood was first introduced to us in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I fell in love. I fell in love with the bravery she possesses to be herself, with her quirky nature and her intelligence too. I gladly place Luna alongside Sirius Black in my top five favorite characters in the Harry Potter series.
But that got me thinking… What if Luna and Sirius met? And I don’t mean through the Dumbledore’s Army meetings. I mean what if their timelines were altered so that they met at similar stages in each of their lives? This concept has stuck with me for years, so much so that I even wrote a fan fiction explaining why it could, in fact, be plausible (you can read it here. I’m trusting you with an old fan fiction; use this power wisely).
It Could Happen
Imagine this – it’s the morning of Luna’s 16th birthday. Harry, Ron, and Hermione lead her into the Forbidden Forest, where they hand Luna a present. Is it a replacement for those pesky missing shoes? Pudding? No. It’s the Time-Turner. Having remembered that Luna’s mother, Pandora, died when she was just a child, Hermione suggested lending the Time-turner to Luna in order to give her another chance to see her mother again. To be with your family is the best gift you could ever receive, right? But what if, in all the excitement, Luna mishears the number of turns she must use on the Time-Turner? What if she turns the Time-Turner one extra time, ending up in 1977?
More Alike than Different?
If anyone ought to be hiding out in the Forbidden Forest in 1977, it would most likely be the Marauders. Enter one Sirius Black, cocky, sometimes cruel but ultimately loyal to his friends.
Now the next question is, would Luna and Sirius get along?
They possess many similarities. Both do identify as outsiders, Luna through her belief in the Quibbler and Sirius through his dissociation with his pure-blood family in becoming a Gryffindor. They both also feel connected to nature. Luna sees the outdoors as a chance to spend time with Thestrals and gnomes. Sirius also sees the outdoors as a way for him to be himself, where he and two of the Marauders are able to turn into their Animagus forms. Furthermore, Luna and Sirius both know the importance of friendship. Sirius proves his loyalty to Remus by spending months with James and Peter to partake in the Animagus transformation, ensuring that Remus isn’t alone when he transforms into a werewolf himself. Really, who would be patient enough to hold a mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month? Luna also acknowledges the value of friendship when she paints beautiful portraits of Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Neville on her bedroom ceiling and laces them in the repetition of the word “friends” in gold.
The Secret Marauder?
It’s very likely that the two would get on. While Sirius may be tempted to mock Luna at first, he is likely to realize their similarities and end up finding Luna’s Nargle and Moon Frog theories very interesting. You may think this to be naïve, but Sirius spent his childhood growing up in an oppressive and racially prejudiced home. Hence, by the time he gained independence, doing anything that would be unappealing to his family – including reading the Quibbler – would give Sirius immense satisfaction. I also believe that Luna would get on with Remus Lupin, seeing as how we know that J.K. Rowling sets meanings behind every name and the names Lupin (wolf) and Luna (moon) are very closely associated.
Adventure in Autumn
So after Luna is thrown from 1998 to 1977 in front of the Marauders in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, what would happen next? I believe that Sirius would volunteer to help her get home or even to find her mother. It could be because of his boredom, love for adventure, or even curiosity about both Luna and the Time-Turner. But nevertheless, there’s no way Sirius would turn down an opportunity as wacky as this one.
Can you see these two as partners in time?
