Does anyone have any ideas as to how Snape was spying for the OOTP?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 147257

latha279 wrote:
> > Although I am a DDM!Snape person, I really found it very
disturbing that two people (apparently people whom DD respected a lot)
- Bones and Vance - were killed following Snape's information passing
to LV!
> 
Bart responded:
> 	Excuse me, but do we in fact know this to be true? And, if it is
true, do we know that Snape's information caused the deaths? And,
finally, if Snape's information did cause the deaths, do we know that
this was not information that he was told to give to LV, which was
thought to be harmless? The answers to all, three, at least according
to canon, is "no".

Carol notes:
First, Bart is right. We don't necessarily know that Snape is telling
the truth to Bellatrix. He carefully makes sure that Bellatrix is no
longer in Voldemort's confidence before he claims to have provided
information on Emmeline Vance or Sirius Black. He may not have
provided any infomation at all on either of them. And he says nothing
at all about providing information on Madam Bones (whom Voldemort
killed in person). He mentions only Sirius Black (whom Bellatrix knows
quite well that she murdered herself when Snape wasn't present) and
Emmeline Vance, about whose death we know next to nothing at this
point. (Snape could have helped her fake her death for all we know.)

We can be pretty sure it was Wormtail who provided the information
that Sirius Black was an Animagus as part of the story of his escape
from his former friends in PoA. We also know from OoP that Kreacher,
not Snape, provided the information that Black was dear to Harry.
About the only other information Snape could have provided was that
Black was back in England following the TWT, and since Snape couldn't
reveal the location of Order HQ, that information alone was not
sufficient to harm Black as long as he remained in Order HQ. And Snape
himself tells Black (in OoP) that Lucius Malfoy recognized the black
dog on Platform 9 3/4, reinforcing what Black already knows, that his
"big disguise is useless." And later, Snape tells Black to stay at 12
GP and wait for Dumbledore, who is on his way, rather than going with
the rest of the Order to the MoM. There's really nothing Snape could
have told LV about Black that could have led to his death, which in
any case, does not seem planned. It happened because he left 12 GP of
his own volition and fought Bellatrix too close to the Veil.

As for Emmeline Vance, it's possible that he provided information on
her (with DD's permission) as part of his double agent role without
that information necessarily leading to her death. Just because one
thing follows another doesn't mean that the first *caused* the second.
That's a post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this therefore because of
this) fallacy. Since we know that his information alone didn't bring
about Black's murder, it seems probable that any information he may
have given LV regarding Vance was likewise insufficient in itself to
bring about her death. Again, we have no evidence other than his words
to Bellatrix, which could be lies or half truths, to connect him with
Vance's death. 

IMO, Snape is only claiming to have provided information on two out of
three people who have recently been killed by Voldemort or the DEs to
persuade Bellatrix that he's loyal to her master. 

At any rate, as Bart says, we have no proof that Snape was really
involved in either Black's or Vance's death. (Canon suggests otherwise
for Sirius Black's.) And again, Snape says *nothing* about Madam
Bones's death. That appears to be Voldemort's doing. As a powerful MoM
official who could not be corrupted or intimidated, she was no doubt
high on Voldie's hit list. But he would not have needed Snape's
information to find her. She was a public figure whose whereabouts
were probably well-known, and as far as we know, she was not a member
of the Order. Whatever may be the case with Emmeline Vance (and the
case for Snape's involvement is weak), there's no evidence at all to
link him with Madam Bones's death. 

Carol, remembering Snape's words about a skilled Occlumens being able
to lie to LV without detection and thinking that lying to Bellatrix
would be considerably easier