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

[dcgmck]

No: HPFGUIDX 119813


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "littleleahstill" 
<cmjohnstone at h...> wrote:
> 
> Neri wrote: (massive snipping)
> 
> The Barty Jr possibility again raises the "something rotten in the
> Ministry" scenario.
> 
[snip]
 Bertha told LV that Barty Jnr was 'a faithful deatheater', so 
somewhere along the line she had heard something about Master Barty 
beyond his grovelling behaviour at the trial.   
> 
> Leah

Having looked through all the succeeding posts and not seen anything 
along the lines I'm thinking, I've come back to this thought: Don't 
we learn in GoF that Bertha Jorkin actually sees Master Barty one 
evening when she goes to the Crouch home with papers for Crouch, Sr.? 
If Bagman is, indeed, ESE and learns of this, (because Bertha never 
could keep her mouth shut on juicy stuff,) her boss could easily have 
suggested a possible vacation side destination en route to her 
relatives.

As far as rumors abounding without positive source identification, 
think Lord of the Rings (extended version forthcoming) wherein rumors 
of a dark power lurking in Mirkwood spread through a variety of 
sources long before Sauron was revealed to have returned, simply 
because of the consequences of his reflexive evil foraging. Likewise 
the Forbidden Forest is alive with rumors of a dark terror when 
VapoMort is feeding on unicorns to sustain himself in PS/SS. Bad news 
doesn't need an evil conspiracy to be disseminated, just some real 
atrocities occurring.