Snape's involvement in the murder of Sirius

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 169316

Debbie wrote:
<snip>
> On another note, could Snape's information that helped dispose of
Black have been that Harry was not succeeding at Occlumency?  The
grand plan to lure Harry to the DOM could not have gone forward if
Harry had developed a knack for Occlumency like his knack for flying,
or even his mastery of the Patronus Charm.

Carol responds:

Great Kreacher post! I think you've solved that riddle, at least to my
satisfaction. Good detective work.

But I don't think that Harry's not succeeding at Occlumency was the
information that Snape is claiming helped lead to the death of Sirius
Black. After all, if Voldemort knew that Snape was giving Harry
Occlumency lessons, he would expect Snape to open Harry's mind rather
than teaching him to close it (although, IMO, Snape really was doing
his best to teach an unwilling pupil, and the problem was two-fold;
aside from the intense mutual dislike and distrust, Harry wanted to
have that dream and Snape was under orders from Dumbledore not to tell
him about the Prophecy). And Voldemort certainly knew that Harry was
not attempting to practice Occlumency; the dreams were getting
through. (I do think, though, that Snape keeps up a running theme of
Harry's "mediocrity" with Voldemort and all the DEs as a way of
getting them to underestimate him. We see it in "Spinner's End," for
example.)

But I think that whatever information Snape claims helped lead to
Black's death had to do with Black himself--as I said before, I think
it was that he had seen him in dog form at Hogwarts (which, BTW, would
 match Wormtail's story and perhaps plant the idea of Black's
closeness to Harry in Voldemort's mind, to be confirmed later by
Kreacher on Narcissa's orders). At any rate, it would be information
of the sort that a double agent would be expected to supply and that
Snape would report to Dumbledore for damage control. Perhaps, the idea
of an Order HQ protected by a Fidelius Charm was prompted by this
action of Snape's. He could then safely tell Voldemort or Lucius
Malfoy that Black was hiding out at Order HQ (which he couldn't
reveal)--and point out to Black that he was seen and recognized by
Malfoy on Platform 9 3/4 when he was foolish enough to leave HQ in dog
form.

Anyway, I think it was information on Black that he was claiming, and
Bellatrix had no way of proving or disproving that it led to Black's
death, which she (rightly) takes credit for.

I imagine that the Emmeline Vance information was something of the
same sort, maybe simply that she was an Order member--information of
the sort that a double agent has to provide in order to stay alive and
obtain the information from the *other* side that he's really after.
(Of course, I hope that Snape faked her death, but that's only a hope
for now.) What I wonder is why Emmeline was considered important
enough to kill. Is Voldemort (via the DEs) just killing off Order
members one by one as he did in VW1? (Amanda Bones, in whose death
Snape doesn't claim a share, is another matter. She was a fair and
objective head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, not
subject to corruption or manipulation. Naturally, Voldemort would kill
her himself.)

Carol, who feels oddly sorry for Kreacher and doesn't blame him for
"master's" death (which was unplanned by anyone) but can't excuse him
for injuring Buckbeak or knowingly lying to Harry to help lure him to
the MoM