Zombies Ruin Everything

To some it may be obvious what the weirdest kid at Hogwarts might be, but examining all the evidence, there’s a pretty good bit to suggest she might be the dreamiest dreamer or the thinkiest thinker. I’m working on making “thinkiest” a real word.

While Ravenclaw doesn’t seem to make too much of an impact on the overarching story of Harry Potter, an introduction to Luna gives us an idea of the type of student that makes up the house. Intelligent, offbeat, and pretty freaking weird. Let’s get into it.

Our introduction to Luna really gives us all we need to know about her character, which is described above. It’s pretty clear she’s not the most popular student at school and the kids often know her by her name ‘Loony Lovegood’ due to her…eccentricities.

Her ability to see Thestrals, or creatures that look like a zombie Pegasus, wouldn’t seem all that strange in the wizarding world if it weren’t for the fact that only those who have experienced death can see them. When Harry Potter offers condolences for Luna’s deceased mother, to which Luna replies in the very clear yet airy tone she always speaks with:

“Yes, it was rather horrible. I do feel very sad about it sometimes. But I’ve got dad.”

Seeming distant and in a world of her own, these qualities could easily describe both the INFP and the INTP. The two are often easily confused but in cases such as this and say, a character like Fox Mulder, the incisive analyst and the emotional wanderer seem to have their separating lines blurred. You can’t have a character like this without recognizing that so much of their life takes place in their head. But are they this way because of their view on how the world could be (INTP) or how the world should be (INFP)?

Many might be quick to attach Fi (Introverted Feeling) to Luna. Fi being the dominant function of the INFP. She’s described as having a knack for embarrassing honesty as Fi can often produce. And since one’s Fi coordinates with Te (Extroverted Thinking, the INFP’s inferior function), this can cause one to say whatever has come to mind. The difference between and INFP who blurts out what they think versus most other types who does this is that the INFP’s blunt way of speaking will often be used to vocalize beliefs, ideas, and views they feel strongly about. It’s as though they can’t hold back or their head will explode.

That’s not to overplay the more subtle nature of the INFP. They can often be very timid and even mistaken for ISFJs or INFJs until you have a conversation with them. So how could a type that can also be confused for these types also be confused for an INTP?

In Luna’s case, she carries many ideas and beliefs that just turn out to be wrong. Superstitions, conspiracy theories and just plain odd views can make it difficult to say what Luna is as INFPs and INTPs can both fall prey to these mindsets quite easily. While the INFP often carries highly unrealistic ideas about the way of the world and the direction it should take, the INTP is also susceptible to far-fetched ideas that, even through their own analysis, can be admittedly faulty. But once you go far enough down the rabbit-hole, it can be tough to know whether or not you should turn back or just keep going.

Luna’s talks of certain creatures and conspiracies cause even witches and wizards to view her as an oddball and that should say something. Though it’s noted Luna became more skeptical in her later years after coming to the conclusion her father may have made up many of the ideas Luna held onto. She also became a

Why do these two types so easily jump into this never-ending web of ideas and plotting? Couple their functions with Ne (Extroverted Intuition) and there can be no end to what they think could or should be. While INFPs lead with Fi, their auxiliary is Ne, INTPs lead with Ti and are backed by Ne. So the INFP takes their beliefs to the limits of their imagination while INTPs take their well-dissected logic to those same limits.

What plays a major part in how Luna could be INTP though, is her distant, unintentionally humorous disposition. While the other kids are running around like crazy trying t find the next clue to save the world or just make it to class, Luna seems to be in her own mind and her body is just having to act out the motions of a normal human. Luna’s calm way of looking for her shoes that other kids keep hiding or being locked in a cold and dank prison cell, it’s all the same. But offend her family? Ooh, look out.

While Luna going from calm and mild to ferocious in a second over offenses paid to her father could be the work of Fi (Wherein the mood does not relate to the room and helps to cause outbursts at times), it could just as soon be the result of inferior Fe. While many might have you believe Extroverted Feeling (Which does relate to the mood of the room) is overly nice and even fake, this just isn’t true.

In fact, the negative side of Fe, specifically in the inferior placing, causes it’s users (INTP and ISTP) to make things awkward or tense, depending on the moment. They may lash out or they might make you feel their awkwardness that they will unintentionally make very clear that they don’t know how to reconcile.

I would type Luna as an INTP. She’s thought to be as intelligent as Hermione but in her own way, which speaks the the type of intellect INTPs often employ. Not of the statistic-minded logicians that SJs are but the seemingly crazy sort of intelligence that makes you wonder if the user is a genius, crazy, or probably just both. Luna is also used as a foil to Hermione in that she has none of the social skills or popularity Hermione has and it only seems fitting for Luna to be INTP as real life INTP women are not only among the rarest but also the “weirdest”; having a rationalist brain where people think a more warm-hearted feeler should be. This can often give them an outsider’s perspective to even other outsiders.

This is not to say INFPs aren’t highly intelligent or that this is even the right answer. It feels like a coin toss up to me. Just, whatever you do, make sure you’re not typing based on how well you relate to this character. You can relate to any character and any type.

This entry was posted on 06/23/2016 at 12:31 pm and is filed under MBTI Idealists, MBTI Rationals, MBTI Stuff, MBTI Whatever with tags Harry Potter, infp, intp, Luna Lovegood, mbti in fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.