Luna said the Ministry was breeding heliopaths in the Department of Mysteries. Helio means flame or fire. 'Sounds like something that could've burned Harry's knife when he tried to get past that door. What do you think?

**chuckles** Man, I love your sig.....

Anyway, heliopaths....Yeah, interesting...

Maybe it's got something to do with the Floo network? Intercepting messages that pass through the flames or something?

Although 'paths' are usually like 'psychopath', 'sociopath'...a condition, you know? But if they're breeding heliopaths....I don't know...maybe it was that that burned Harry's knife...

**sigh** Something else that Sirius gave him...lost...**sniff**

Heliopaths....I'm guessing horses of fire. Used for transportation on cooold winter days.

very interesting theory

and i also love the sig Ginny

Really? He specifically said that about the room that burned Harry's knife ?

**shivers** Must be a scary kind of love, man.....

maybe it is like stocker love ewwwwwwwwwwww , maybe heliopath doesn't mean a flame condission maybe it is just a name of a magical creature.

But was that the exact door Dumbledore was talking about? We can't be certain can we. I reckon that although JKR is trying to make Luna a little spaced-out that she might actually be right. I think she knows things but because of the Quibbler and her lost-in-thought type look she doesn't get taken seriously. So I'll be very surprised if one odd thing that she said doesn't come to pass.

Aye I think the Heliopaths is about as likely as the crumple-horned snorkacks, to be honest...

Oh, just you wait, the HBP will BE a crumple-horned snorkack now!!! I just know it!!!

Erm... how would Dumbledore know what was in the dept. of mysteries? no one is supposed to except perhaps those who work there.

Heliopaths...

Here's the bit in Book five (chapter 16, page 312) that talks about them. Might be a bit spoily, so avoid if you haven't read it.

*Runs to check her Fantastic Beasts and where to find them*

Heliopaths aren't there... =(

I trust Hermione's word on this part. Until I am somehow proven wrong.

Neville: What are Heliopaths?
Luna: They are great spirits of fire...

.....
somehow, I just can't remember what Luna said... but I can't prove it until Heliopaths are mentioned in Book Six or Seven. Love your sig, Gin!

I've wondered how Dumbledore knows what is in the Department of Mysteries too, severely_severus. We know that in 1945, he defeated Grindelwald. Fifty years before CoS (if we are saying that CoS was in 1992, this was 1942) he was the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts. Shortly before Lupin entered Hogwarts, he became Headmaster (probably around 1970). We don't know how long he was a teacher at Hogwarts, although he seems to have left Hogwarts at some point to defeat Grindelwald (or maybe Grindelwald attacked Hogwarts, and Dumbledore defeated him there). We also know that Dumbledore is about 150 years old. He finished his school years at Hogwarts at 17. If he started teaching at 20, he would have been teaching for about 110 years! That has to get a little boring after a while...I can't see anyone teaching for that long without getting tired of it (ok, maybe Binns, but not Dumbledore!).

So how does this relate to the Department of Mysteries? What I think is that Dumbledore might have worked in the Department of Mysteries at some point. He would therefore know what is in it, and he would understand why only Harry was able to pick up the Prophecy.

Hey yeah thats a good idea!! I have never thought about that before but it does seem possible, that would explain how he knew about the prophecy (which Voldie didnt even know about for a while) and then that would be how he knew about the veil too wow!! that makes a load of sense!

Well, I agree completely Sally-Anne Perks!!!! It really seems to fit.!!!Congratulations on actually studying things before posting. (Its something that I never achieve!!!)

that would make so much sense! (the DoM+Dumbledore's knowledge=
former occupation)
It might also tie into Dumbledore's extensive involvement in the other aspects Ministry of Magic, Wisengamot(no idea if that is spelled right!), etc. while still being the headmaster of Hogwarts-- which I believe is not under control of the ministry (or its limited at least).
If I'm wrong feel free to imform me!

i just think it is the room of love, where harry will fight Voldy! no animals - heliopaths or Kacky snorlack!!!

interesting theory.... *wonders*

Im gonna have to go with Hermione on this one.
It would be like Dumbledore to have worked in the Department of Mysteries, but the bit about the Prophecy can't be counted as evidence towards that. Dumbledore was present when the Prophecy was made by, ta dah! Professor Trelawney! Maybe Dumbledore had something to do with the creation of the DoM...Afterall, he is the greatest wizard of his time.

yeah!
heliopaths as what luna said burns everything in their way!
somehow a bit scary for me???
but i think they're really creatures whose bodies are in fire!

you think there are really heliopaths bred by the minister of magic???
maybe??? we really don't know!

only one problem,it was loony lovegood who said it, so itll be a pile of rubbish

i think these helipath things are fire made warriors to fight the inferi. after all the inferi weakness is fire so it would be a god weapon for the minisrty to use

Ok a few things first

Dumbledore did not help found the MOM. It has been around for centurys! Heliopaths are "Spirits" of fire, seeing as ghosts are not in Fantastic Beast and Where to find them, Heliopaths shouldn't either.

Heliopaths, i think might have been bred by the ministry. Think about it, they like power. ANyway I read somehwere that in many ancient beleifs, Witches would breed an army of a a certain element and do battle with another force with a different element. MAybe these Heliopaths are for this reason. Who knows?

I don't think so remember Dumbledore saying there was one door that was always locked and behind it lay a power that Harry had flowing through is viens in such quantites and it protected him yada yada yada. So I think what is begind the door was like..love made into solid magic.

After posting, I foundThestrals in MBaWtFT. They are under winged horses. I won't change the other one so that you can laugh at and mock me.

that could be write

MOD EDIT: No one-liner, please. Thanks.

I dont know if this has been said, but from what i know, a heliopath is a creature that has pyrokinetic abilities. I get this from the fact that in fantasy Heliomorphs are small critters that can make themselves larger by 'wrapping a skin of fire around their bodies psychically'. So possibly heliopaths are people who have pyrokinetic abilites so dangerous they must be locked up.

just a thought!

I don't think that love would have burned Harry's knife. And my reasoning: if he has so much love inside him that it will protect him when it comes to the final fight then he should be able to get into the room. Only Voldemort should be allowed entry since he's pure evil.

I do want to hear more about the Helipaths in the seventh book. I'm totally with Luna on this one, I reckon their real.............as I think I said way back at the beginning.

I don't know why but for some reason (and to be honest I was never particularily into the x-files) but from what I have seen of it, Luna sort of reminds me of mulder (not sure of spelling) - where she comes out with all these statements that seem like complete nonsense but some do turn out to be true -

perhaps the ministry makes it that was, the way they did with harry in the Daily prophet - making him sound insane to keep the truth about vauldermort away from people, therefore when someone like luna turns around and states the truth, they are laughed off - or something like that (I'm not particularily good at explaining myself today) . A sort of cover-up X-filesy thing

[/quote]'Yes, he's got an army of Heliopaths,' said Luna solemnly.
'No, he hasn't,' snapped Hermione.
'What are Heliopaths?' asked Neville, looking blank.
'They're spirits of fire,' said Luna, her proturberant eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever, 'great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of -' OOTP In The Hog's Head

".....It is the power held within the room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to save Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body full of the force he detests....In was your heart that saved you." Dumbledore OOTP ch The Lost Prophecy

...and he pulled it out from inside his robes and slid it into the crack between the door and the wall....when Harry looked down at his knife, he saw that the blade had melted.
"You know what could be in there?" said Luna eagerly,
OOTP ch The Department of Mysteries[quote]

I am connecting all these quotes together and I am going to say that they are all the same thing. Heliopath has something to do with love and love has something to do with creating a heliopath. If in that locked room melts knives, I can safely assume it contains things that burn. Luna says a Heliopath is a fire spirit. Dumbledore says in that room is a power that Harry has, love, and that is the reason why he can not be possessed. Love could be a life force, spirit, or essence in that room creating something that is always blazing hot. Harry was feeling his emotions rise after seeing Sirius die and all the love for him flooding him and creating the blazing hot spirit inside him which Voldemort can not withstand. Maybe if you have a lot of love, a fire spirit can be summoned. The Potter house was destroyed. Was it burned, I do not know. Maybe the love that Lily used to save her son was the ancient magic of the Heliopath. She protected Harry when sacrificing herself with a Heliopath, destroying the some of the house and Voldemort except for Harry.

Hey guys and girls, i like the idea that the thing behind the door that melted harrys knife gave to him by sirius, was either a Heliopath, some type of love or even something to do with the fleu network!! i dont see any of them peasable though. I think the knife, just melted, because, harry and the others were not allowed to go in there yet. maybe harry and dd, had to touch the handle at the same time, then, the door would open. or, it could be that the door had something to do with horcruxes, how to destroy them, find them, and even detect any enchantment protecting them. you see, this would be the dark lords undoing if it is horcruxes. see, harry can use the knowledge against the dark lord, and finally have a "weapon" to help him vanquish the dark lord. just my thoughts, please, feel free to critisize!! or to agree!!

I wonder if harry could use dumbledores wirring instruments, to see what is behind that door that melted his knife? maybe the instruments, only show things that are in the ministry of magic, or even things that happen in the ministry of magic. See OOTP, the snake chapter!!

I think Luna could be right you know. It would be very funny to find out that all her mysterious, explainations are true. She's like somebody that you don't believe. She could actualy know for fact that they are true. Heliopaths sound cool, well not exactlly cool. They sound aggrsieve and mysterious. And what better place to have a mysterious creature than the department of mysterious.

i dunno who it was but someone said that the heliopaths were being made for voldy. surely someone would know if they were even if lucius malfoy had imperised the whole lot of the unspeakables to do his bidding. look at Bole he was imperised and ended up in hospital for trying to get the prophecy. however say he bewitched him as a diversion to draw the ministry's attention away from the fact that other unspeakables had been bewitched and were making an army for LV i just dont see t happening.

In any event, it would certainly seem that whoever is in control of whatever goes on in the Department of Mysteries and/or of the Unspeakables would have a great deal of sway in the approaching war. Whoever was theorizing that Dumbledore might once have been involved with the Department of Mysteries makes an excellent point. Mr. Weasley, who has worked for quite a while at the Ministry of Magic albeit in a less prestigious office, admitted at the Quidditch World Cup in GOF that he has no idea what the Unspeakables "get up to". And yet it would seem that he knows more or less what is going on in all of the other Ministry departments, as evidenced by his other remarks at the Quidditch World Cup as well as that circumstance where Draco was mocking Mr. Weasley when Ron didn't know about the Triwizard Tournament in saying that perhaps being in such a low office the Ministry "didn't trust [Mr. Weasley] with important information", even though dramatic irony demonstrated that Mr. Weasley had indeed known. All in all, the fact that Mr. Weasley doesn't know much of anything about the (cryptically named) Department of Mysteries demands that Dumbledore has had past experiences related to this department, since the words he spoke could not have been purely based on cleverness and educated guesses. That said, with Dumbledore out of the way for the seventh book, has the knowledge he has already left Harry encompassed all he knew of this department, or will we find out more from other traces Dumbledore has left? Perhaps the Order; we still don't know all of what they discuss in their meetings. Or just as easily from some other source.

Further to the idea of Heliopaths, when I was reading the first page and a half of posts on this topic I kept thinking of Inferi, so whoever mentioned that link, I think you might be on the right track. The concept of two magical armies consisting of non-living beings, one proliferating fire and the other vulnerable to it, creates a very tempting link. If indeed the Heliopaths have been bred to counteract the foul Inferi, surely they have come into existence following Voldemort's perceived downfall, otherwise the concept of Heliopaths wouldn't be a secret. Likewise, if the Heliopaths worked for Voldemort, they also would have been discovered in Voldemort's previous reign, unless nobody lived to tell the tale... except naturally they would have left a great deal of barren wasteland in their wake, and I haven't heard any mention of that by JKR This leaves three possible options for truth of the Heliopaths, assuming, of course, that they exist in the first place:
1. The Heliopaths have existed since an unknown increment of time prior to Voldemort's perceived downfall, but the Ministry of Magic never used them as a weapon (further, are heliopaths controlable?) so we've never heard of them except from Luna.
2. The Heliopaths have been created/studied beginning sometime after Voldemorts perceived downfall, and Death Eater influence on Unspeakables has left them in the control of the dark side
3. The Heliopaths have been created/studied beginning sometime after Voldemorts perceived downfall, and Death Eater influences have not lead to Voldemort's control of them.
The problem with option 1. is that if the Ministry of Magic chose not to use Heliopaths in the last war effort against Voldemort, their reasoning was likely sound and will stand in the upcoming war, making the presence of Heliopaths further irrelevant.
The problem with option 2. is related to the colour theory, for anybody who has done any reading on that. Fire is (usually) red, which would mean that Heliopaths, if they exist, would not symbolically be represented by the dark side, which according to the theory battles using green.
The problem with option 3. is that the Ministry does not accept that Voldemort has returned until after Luna tells us about the Heliopaths. Naturally, the Ministry could secretly, grudgingly, have believed in his return, and if there was ever a secret aspect to the Ministry it was the Department of Mysteries. This also serves as a partial rebuttal against option 2 (to help those out who don't know what on earth the colour theory is, or is unwilling to believe it to the extent I have applied it). It is still plausible that the Heliopaths at the Ministry are a current aquisition, but the Ministry did not aquire them with the intent of doing battle with Voldemort.

One last thought (wow I wrote more than I thought I did) - if any of the above options are true, how on earth does Luna know about it?

Fuoco

Dumbledore did not say that the room was love., although that is what I think it was. Has the Quibbler ever written somthing true besides Harry's interview. I doubt there are actually heliopaths

Everyone has really good ideas about the Heliopaths, and I agree with them all, but I don't agree that they are not real, Luna has a lot of crazy ideas, but I think JKR has made her ideas seem crazy for a reason, so that we wont believe her even though half the stuff she talks about is actually true (she knew about Thestrals, The Veil and a few other things.)

We all know JKR doesn't just name something, It always has a reason for it's name...but what is the meaning behind Heliopath?

Whilst reading a HP website (hp-lexicon) I stumbled upon a page about mythical creatures. All creatures that are mentioned are creatures that we have heard Luna mention.

And of course, Heliopaths were mentioned.

It is mentioned there that Helios means 'Sun' and Path is 'Feeling'....Heliopath....Sun Feeling....

From another website...'heliopath (OotP ch. 16): Fire spirits that Cornelius Fudge allegedly has a private army of.

Etym: Greek helio- "sun" + -path in the sense of "sympathetic to, sharing the quality of".'http://m5p.com/~pravn/hp/h-5.html

Heliopath
According to Luna great tall flaming spirits of fire. According to Hermione they don't exist. Helio refers to the sun. The -path suffix refers to a practitioner of a (specified) system. Therefore these spirits of fire are skilled in arts related to the sun (and subsequently fire). http://www.masterfroggy1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Alphabet/Page%20H.htm


So (as mentioned a lot before in this topic) Heliopaths are something to do with fire. According to the last bit of information I found they are skilled in Sun and Fire. In my opinion they are not fire spirits but warriors of fire. They are normal wizards that have been trained in special magics to do with fire and using the power of the sun for defence and offensive attacks, Much like we have the martial arts that can draw upon energy from within us they can daw upon external energy from the sun and turn this energy into fire and use these spells (without a wand..remember DD in PoA, he didn't have to use his wand to save Harry from falling) like a martial artist would use his attacks... I believe they will be used against LV.

So I think Luna was right....Fudge is breeding Heliopaths to fight Voldemort... Fudge will blatantly know that LV will use Inferi, he did last time so why not this time. Heliopaths, Warriors of Fire will be used by the ministry to fight LVs Inferi.

As for Harry's knife, I think that Heliopaths, like Psycopaths and Sociopaths (as mentioned before in this topic) are quite violent and agressive, so when Harry tried to open the door with his knife, they fought back feeling threatened, that Harry was going to attack them or something, so they stopped him getting into the room by melting his knife.

Just my theory though.

x

I doubt that's what melted Harry's knife but it is a good theory. I got the impression that heliopaths were just another mythical magical creature Luna and Xeno believe in.