Salem and the Wizarding World.

Salem is an interesting note to mention for a few reasons in the Wizarding World, and as such, I thought I'd give a bit of head cannon thought, as I don't think Rowling will address it any time soon, though we do know there is a wizarding institute in Salem.


Witches and Wizards most likely came to Salem for the most part after the witch trials, though like the witch trials in Europe, witches and wizards were seldom caught, with the exception of Guiles Corey and Tituba.  The three girls involved with naming individuals named individuals at random, following muggle convention to try and determine the identity of witches and wizards. Guiles was one of the few non-confessed magical folk that they managed to finger, who elected to not confess to anything, so that his children would better hide amongst the muggles.

Interestingly enough, it was not wizards but Nogtails that snuck into farms causing ruin in the area. This lead to muggle suspicion that would prompt them fighting amongst themselves, and was lowered ONLY after the ministry sent a few albino hounds to chase the Nogtails out of settlements.

In addition to all of these, Wizards set up their own settlements elsewhere, pushing further west, staying towards the mountains, and making one renowned settlement at Roanoke (said to have vanished by Muggles, but in truth made unplottable). Salem's witch hunt prompted the unplottable settlements, as muggles used methods that were harder to stop by magic (unlike the flame repelling charms used in Europe, hangings could not easily be avoided or otherwise tricked).

To this day, there are a few major schools in the United States, including Salem Witches' Institute, set up to help young witches and wizards hide their magic from muggles, and schools in Roanoke, Texas, Death Valley, Alaska, New York City, and Chicago.