Snape had arrived to tell them that Horace Slughorn had vanished.

"He can't be involved. He is the last person to want to join the deatheaters." McGonagall said in outrage when she saw Kingsley's reaction.

"He is undeniably in the middle of this Minerva." Kingsley said seriously.

Kingsley turned to Mr and Mrs Weasley. "You had better go back and kept an eye on George." He said. "Let Bill and Fleur stay as they are, I will send Aurors to guard them. Do not send them or anyone else an owl. Any contacts should be strictly through the floo network."

They nodded looking very upset. "It feels like when you know who came into power."

"Don't fret Molly. We will them back and all catch those responsible." Kingsley said to her.

"Keep my babies safe!" Molly told Kingsley as Arthur held her hand comfortingly.

They gave Ginny and Hermione a hug and a kiss before going back to the burrow through the fireplace.

"Hermione and Ginny. I suggest you can go back to your dormitories or do you prefer going back to the burrow." Kingsley said.

"Minister." Hermione said sternly coming forward. "We were in the DA before we joined the Order and we fought in the Battle of Hogwarts,broke into Gringotts and the Ministry. I don't think we deserve to be kept in the dark like this. Whatever needs to be done, we will do it."

Kingsley stared at her.

"It was not long ago when you offered Harry a place in the ministry as an Auror." Hermione continued.

"Haven't we proved to be as capable as any of your Aurors?" Ginny asked.

Kingsley could not deny this. He nodded his head and said "As minister for magic I am bound by the office to keep it's secrets. Secrets even the Aurors are unaware of."

"What secrets?" Ginny asked.

"We cannot discuss this here." Kingsley said moving to the headmaster's desk, he picked up a quill and parchment and scribbled something before tossing it into the fire with floo powder.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked as Kingsley handed her some floo powder.

"The ministry of course." He replied. "After you. He gestured to Ginny.

Ginny glanced at Hermione before she stepped into the fireplace. They knew were finally going to find out the secrets the ministry covered up about the Salem witch trials.

In a flash of green flames, Hermione, Ginny and the Minister jumped out of the fire place and straight into the ministry for magic's office.

"Now tell us what this is about." Ginny said, dusting her robes.

"Not just yet." Kingsley said checking the doors and windows before tossing floo power into the fireplace.

"Cornelius, come to my office please." He called into the free flames in the fireplace. A moment later a familiar figure stepped out and began dusting his robes.

"Mr. Fudge!" Hermione said.

"Miss Granger! Miss Weasley! What a surprise!" He exclaimed. Fudge looked shabbier than usual and his face looked older than ever.

"Cornelius I called you here to discuss the matter about the Salem witch trials incident." Kingsley said.

Fudge looked like someone put a bat boghey hex on his face.

"You can't be serious minister!" Fudge spluttered. "The council will not accept this!"

"Why not? They have earned the right to know." Kingsley said in a serious tone as Fudge opened and closed his mouth in frustration. "Go to the council and tell them of my decision. Also tell them that Harry Potter has been taken by Nicholas Flamel."

"What! That can't be true!" Fudge gasped.

"They have taken Potter and the youngest Weasley boy." Kingsley said

"I'll tell the council right away." Fudge said giving Hermione and Ginny a sad bow and disappearing into the fireplace.

"We need to act fast-" Hermione began but Kingsley cut her off.

"They won't kill Harry and Ron just yet." He said.

"How are you so certain?" Hermione asked.

"They want all of you, the entire Weasley family." He said.

"Why?" Whispered Ginny.

"To create a new philosophers stone." Hermione said  staring blank faced at Kingsley. Kingsley sighed and nodded.

Ginny sank onto the armchair by the fire.

"How could this happen? Why dint the ministry keep an eye on Flamel?" Hermione asked.

"Flamel was a  powerful but harmless wizard. He was supposed to die soon. There was no reason to keep an eye on him." Kingsley said.

"Except that he was an unconvicted mass murderer!" Ginny said angrily.

"There was no clear evidence of that!" Kingsley said defensively. "Look I wasn't around at the time and I am not denying that it looks fishy, but I have been minister for magic for only a few months. There is a lot I still don't know."

"Of course we don't blame you, Kingsley." Hermione said, shooting Ginny a side glance. "But we need to know more to have a clue to where he would have taken Harry and Ron."

"Start with what you know." Ginny said crossing her arms. Kingsley sighed and sat down.

"You have probably heard about the witch trials in Salem." Kingsley said and Hermione nodded her head at once while Ginny shook hers.

"In January 1692, 9-year-old muggle Elizabeth Parris and 11-year-old muggle Abigail Williams began having fits, including violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming. The muggle doctors had no idea what caused this and blamed it on some form of bewitchment."

"It was towards the end of our open relationships with muggles. Salem was one of the last few places to be aware of the magical community. It was also a community which practices Alchemy and wandless magic. Salem used to be welcoming of us and lived in peace until their children began falling sick."

"After more children began falling sick, they began to get desperate for answers. They accused Witches who lived in the area, beginning with Parris' Caribbean slave, Tituba and two other women–the homeless beggar Sarah Good and the poor, elderly Sarah Osborn–whom the girls accused of bewitching them."

"The girls accused them?" Hermione said in surprise.   

"Yes. Apparently these women were around when the girls would suddenly began having fits." Kingsley said sadly.

"Thats totally barbaric!" Hermione said. "That cant be a reason to accuse someone of harming children!"

"You are forgetting that its a small town and people were getting desperate to find a cause and blame someone." Kingsley said.

"That does not make it right." she replied, looking upset.

"I know." Kingsley said kindly "But Tituba confessed."

Hermione and Ginny's jaw dropped.

"She was most likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans. This caused an uproar in the community. The Witches and wizards were immediately shunned."

"Several accused witches confessed and named still others, and the trials soon began to overwhelm the local justice system. They were all convinced that they would be spared if they blamed someone else."

"Then on June 2, the court handed down its first conviction, against Bridget Bishop, she was the great-grand child of Nicholes Flamel. She moved to Salem only a year before, looking for a quieter life away from the wizarding community. Hers was the first of many unjustified executions. Some died in jail and some were stoned to death."

"Nicholes was furious about the death of his great-grand child, Bridget Bishop. He came to town disguised as a traveler and began to use his magic to bind together the lives of the muggle families responsible for his great-grand child's death. He had help from other wizards who lost family members to the trial, causing the entire family to get hurt or die if one of them got hurt or died. This of course only created more chaos and panic in the eyes of the muggles who had no idea how they were dying and they reacted by killing more Witches."

"That was when the American Ministry were forced to get involved. The death toll began to rise to a dangerous point. The international laws forced them to modify everyone's memories and make Salem a muggle only zone and Nicholes was banned from leaving Britan."

"Thats it?" Ginny said angrily. "Kill almost an entire town of muggles and you are confined to your homeland??"

"The minister at the time was convinced that Nicholes was a valuable member of our society and acted as any wizard would in that situation." Kingsley said. "years of loyalty and service proved him right."

"Until now." Hermione said.

"Until now." Kingsley agreed. "It was said that during this time, Nicholes managed to make the philosophers stone more powerful than ever. He used the lives he took to make the stone."

"So he means to use the Weasleys to make a new stone?" Hermione asked. "Why them? There are other bigger families he could have used."

"Dumbledore insists there must be a bigger reason why Nicholes chose to target the Weasleys. I am going to find out what that reason is. Meanwhile I have Aurors all over the country protecting your family." Kingsley said to Ginny and she nodded silently.

"You must swear to secrecy. The ministry's delayed action is widely known but Nicholas's involvement remain secret." Kingsley said.

"Why is this a secret? Why doesn't the Wizarding world know about this?" Ginny asked Kingsley.

"Same reason Horcruxes are not widely known and is rarely ever written about. Same reason anything powerful is hidden away. Eternal youth combined with wandless magic and limitless gold, who wouldn't want it no matter the price!" Kingsley said.

*******

Hello!!
Just so you know... the Salem witch story is sorta true....Names, dates and all....
However the connection between Nicholas Flamel is not.

What did you think of this chapter?