I've been trying to search for some reasonable citations for the following, but have drawn a blank!
Because the B/C connected transistor is capable of pulling down its collector further than the base junction with regards to the emitter, any signal that is impressed between the two, (on that "short" circuit), will appear amplified at the collector. At HF that short circuit is an inductor for instance.
One prospect who applied for a position with my company, was a student who was asked to produce something they had made: She produced just such a circuit that was as I remember a silicon diode, silicon bjt, couple of capacitors and a coil of wire, the basic circuit was that of an ampified diode but given a load of a 300 ohm telephone earpiece resolved a local radio station at good volume... it utilised the above effect.
I guess what I'm saying here is the form of this phenomenon reported by the OP, one must not take it that a DC circuit connection form is going to behave in a textbook manner as you would expect, I recreated what the student had built, however with a uhf capable transistor and stripline inductors. It basically jammed terrestrial TV in the local area.
As for reversed supplies, early transistors collectors/emitters were designated as "preferred", and would often work either way up in a circuit!
Best regards...
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