Which J.K. Rowling Harry Potter novel first introduces Luna Lovegood?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the first J.K. Rowling novel to introduce Luna Lovegood. Luna is a Ravenclaw student who meets Harry, Ron, and Hermione during Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts.

Luna is known for her dreamy manner, unusual beliefs, and loyalty to her friends. Her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, edits The Quibbler, a publication that often presents stories rejected by the mainstream wizarding newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Luna eventually becomes an important member of Dumbledore’s Army.

She appears in the fifth novel, published in 2003, and returns in the final three books. In the film adaptations, Evanna Lynch played Luna. Readers sometimes associate Luna most strongly with later events, especially the Battle of Hogwarts, but her literary debut occurs earlier, in Order of the Phoenix, when Harry encounters her on the Hogwarts Express.