Salem Witch Trials

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft that occurred in No-Maj colonial Massachusetts in the years 1692 and 1693.

The trials result in the executions of twenty people. Most were women. Some of these women were actually witches, though they were innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. Others were simply unlucky No-Majs caught up in the mass hysteria.

The trials were the culmination of the Puritan witch hunts in North America. Most of the judges who presided over them were Puritans, but at least two were actually Scourers, who were seeking to settle personal vendettas against other wizards.

The Salem witch trials were a major traumatic event in the history of American wizard-No-Maj relations. The lobby of the MACUSA, in the Woolworth Building in New York, features four gilt statues of phoenixes paying homage to the victims of the Salem witch trials.

In the 1920s, the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a fanatical No-Maj group looking to expose and destroy wizards and witches, called itself the "Second Salemers".

Appearances

 * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
 * Pottermore