As Greta sang her heart out onstage, Janice Shep, once the "Queen of the Night," sat below the stage.
The actress's true age was estimated to be over a hundred. Ollivander had been her fan in his youth, yet she looked less than fifty, with smooth, impeccably styled blonde hair. Her lungs were too old to support coloratura soprano singing any longer, but rather than retiring at home, she had gone into the cosmetics business.
Ordinary "Beauty Potions" could not make one younger, but the potion formulas used in her shop had all been invented by herself, and no one else knew them. She was also about to launch a new perfume called Luscious Locks. It contained no Amortentia, yet was said to be just as bewitching. That was what she had sprayed on tonight.
Perhaps due to magic, its scent could be smelled throughout the venue. It carried a faint sweetness. Pomona personally felt it suited younger girls better; it was too sugary for Janice.
A "queen" needed more than beauty, of course—she needed talent as well. Greta's voice was not as good as Janice's, nor could she brew such advanced potions, but she was a member of the French Cheese-Makers' Association.
Lockhart had magic he excelled at too, such as Obliviate. Greta, meanwhile, was very skilled at enchanting cheese, and she had even published a book that was extremely popular among housewives.
Before Newt Scamander arrived in Paris in 1927, French wizarding society was undergoing a transformation. The French Minister for Magic at the time abruptly banned the sale of potions to Muggles, with Amortentia in particular placed under strict control.
Potion-making required Herbology ingredients and magical creatures, which was why Britain's magical Foreign Office organized the Herbology Association as a diplomatic delegation. In return, the French Ministry