What gave people the idea Sirius was Voldemort's No. 2?

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23955

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Julie" <JulieW428 at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., keith.fraser at s... wrote:
> > I mean, it seems a big imaginative leap from Sirius betraying the 
> > Potters to him being Deputy Big Bad. Did Death Eaters (Pettigrew?) 
> > spread misinformative rumours after the event?
> > 
> 
> 
> I agree and on top of that- wouldn't the real bad guys have known it 
> wasn't him- not that they would have cleared his name or anything but 
> wouldn't have mayber Snape or Karkoroff (spelling?) have maybe known 
> something to clear him?
> 
> I guess PP was spreading some good rumors before and after- wouldn't 
> take much with the likes of Rita Skeeter around.
> 
	I think Voldemort knew that someone in his inner circle was 
passing information back to the good guys and took advantage of it. I 
see a carefully orchestrated campaign of disinformation, in which Snape 
played an important but unwitting role by informing Dumbledore that 
there was a spy planted near the Potters. Snape speaks of James' 
refusal to believe that Black could betray him, which suggests that 
Snape himself passed information about Black back to the Potters.
Pippin