JKR's cryptic answer: "Who sent the Lestranges to the Longbottoms?"

[Eustace_Scrubb]

No: HPFGUIDX 119790


Leah:

> What if Barty Jnr had been not 
> the onlooker at, but the promoter of, the "let's ask the
Longbottoms" 
> approach?  And his behaviour at trial was a fine piece of acting
for 
> his mother's benefit?  That might well make him LV's favourite boy.

Eustace_Scrubb:
That's a most interesting idea.  Barty the Younger was apparently
unsuspected until his arrest.  That could mean that he could have
managed a way to access confidential MoM information through his
father beforehand.  Perhaps this indicated that the Longbottoms were
another potential target for Voldemort.  Since the Lestranges didn't
know about the prophecy, perhaps a mole in the ministry (or with high
level contacts in the MoM) pointed them in that direction.  

I also wonder to what extent the quick dissemination of the "official
story" about what happened at Godric's Hollow might be interpreted by
DEs as Ministry disinformation...I think Bellatrix and maybe others
would find it hard to believe that their Fearless Leader had been
vanquished by a toddler, especially if they were unaware of the
prophecy and therefore had no reason to believe this child posed a
specific risk.  

Cheers,

Eustace_Scrubb