Who sent was Re: LV: Where'd He Go and How did Frank Know "Something"

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 150787

Rebecca:
> Would not talk about "what"? How would Frank know anything about where LV 
> went?  Couple this with JKR's statement that the LeStranges weren't in on 
> the secret of the prophecy - and according to herself, Bella et all were 
> sent directly to the Longbottoms only a few weeks after LV's disappearance 
> but not to kill Neville. They specifically were the ones the DE's wanted. 
> (Another question: who the hell *sent them* if LV was MIA? Don't blame me 
> for asking, blame Rowling for her site's answer to the question of the 
> choice.)
> 

Pippin:
Ah, yes, that *sent* comment is a gift to the ESE! theorist. One could
hardly ask for a juicier hint in that direction.

It would have to be a powerful DE who could give commands in LV's 
absence. We can eliminate Snape because  of the conversation at 
Spinner's End. Bella accused Snape of having done nothing in aid of
the Dark Lord's return, and Snape claimed that he thought LV
was finished, neither of which would make sense if Bella thought
she was talking to the person who'd 'sent' her.

It would also have to be someone who could reasonably claim to have
information about what Frank knew. One might suspect a spy in the
Order, but our known spy, Pettigrew, had safely faked his death and
had no reason to  take any risks on behalf of his disembodied
master. Also, I can't imagine Bella letting Pettigrew send her anywhere.

But who says there can only be one spy? If Dumbledore had a number
of useful spies, shouldn't Voldemort have the same advantage?

Let us say that the second spy is in no great hurry  for
LV's return,  but is anxious, nay desperate, to eliminate anyone who 
knows that Pettigrew is not the only traitor in the Order. So he
sends the rest of his cell after the Longbottoms and arranges for them
to get caught.

There was a chance that they'd implicate him, and it must have given
our traitor a nervous moment when Crouch Sr started cutting deals,
but still, it was safer to have them in Azkaban than walking free
and expecting him to be involved in their plans for LV's return. Of
course they might go mad in Azkaban and blurt out his name 
anyway, but that wouldn't matter if he was using an alias.
If they sometimes spoke about "Wormtail" as if he was still alive,
Sirius would just think they were raving, and no one else would
know what they meant at all.

So  my guess is that  it didn't matter what Frank and Alice knew.
The sender only chose them because they were popular and 
powerful aurors, and an attack on them would surely land the
perpetrators in Azkaban despite the vagaries of wizarding justice.

Pippin