Beauty Potion

Murphy hefted the brick-heavy mobile phone and curled his lip.

Last time, he had thought Jim looked hopelessly old-fashioned using this thing. Now he hadn't expected he would have to carry one himself.

Forget it. When he had the energy to spare, he would straighten out the Muggle world's technology too.

Although there were plenty of technological principles he didn't really understand, he at least knew the development path for the next thirty years. Making certain technologies appear slightly ahead of schedule shouldn't be too hard.

Over the next few days, Murphy kept tinkering with potions in the basement. The many other materials he had bought last time were all turned into various kinds of potions.

He planned to launch the next potion product as soon as possible.

With Cloud White Medicine alone, making money was still too slow.

The new candidate potions included Blood-Replenishing Potion, Skele-Gro, Invigoration Draught, and the like. These were all healing potions, and they paired well with Cloud White Medicine.

Their speed of effect was also far stronger than existing Muggle medicines, so they should sell just as well.

However, after carefully screening them, Murphy chose another kind of potion instead.

Beauty Potion.

In short, it was a potion that could make a person more beautiful.

It made the drinker approach their ideal figure and appearance in every aspect.

Its effect was basically plug-and-play plastic surgery, Photoshop for the body, real-life beautification filters.

It wasn't hard to imagine how attractive this thing would be to Muggles anxious about their looks.

And compared with proper medical potions, the beauty industry was far more casual. It needed neither safety reviews nor lengthy clinical trials, and product filing was much easier than for medicine.

It was honestly perfect for immediate monetization.

Even its flaw of being unable to take permanent effect suited Murphy perfectly.

If one bottle of potion made someone permanently beautiful, how was he supposed to keep fleecing them? How was he supposed to keep making money?

At the same time, he felt he should draw on the successful experience of Essence of Dittany, reduce the effective dosage of Beauty Potion, mix it with various plant extracts, and turn it into things like Beauty Potion face masks, foundation, moisturizing lotion, essential oils, and so on.

He would sell the Beauty Potion, whose output was limited by rare materials, by the drop.

Did this seem a little black-hearted?

No. Murphy felt he had far more conscience than those big cosmetics companies that casually made up terms like "repairing essence" and used them to scam money.

At the very least, his potion actually worked.

After deciding on the next potion to promote, Murphy came out of the basement, preparing to spend a few days resting in the Muggle world.

Just then, an owl landed on the mailbox at the old manor's gate, dropped a letter inside, and flew away again.

Murphy went to the mailbox and reached in to rummage around.

He pulled out several pieces of mail. One or two were replies to the jobs he had applied for earlier, and another was an ad from Quality Quidditch Supplies, though he had no idea why it had been delivered here.

The last one, however, was from Alex Wood.

The letter the owl had just delivered was probably this one.

Alex Wood?

Who?

Murphy was confused for a moment before he remembered that he had recruited a certain dung-refining alchemist.

Uh, he had completely forgotten about that.

He opened the letter.

"Dear Mr. Peter Parker:

I received an A in Potions in my Ordinary Wizarding Levels. I am skilled at brewing Calming Draught, Strengthening Solution, and Fire Protection Potion. If you can provide a salary of more than 70 Galleons per month, I would be very willing to serve you."

Seventy Galleons. In fact, this salary level wasn't high. It was even lower than the job Murphy had at the Ministry of Magic.

Just look at what this terrifying workplace had driven young wizards into.

They didn't even dare write their ideal salary a little higher.

Murphy immediately wrote back, "I'll give you 60 Galleons a month. Bring your potion-making equipment. Tomorrow morning at ten, come to the address below and show me what you can do."

Hmph. Asking me for 70 Galleons? Spoiled brat.

The next morning, Murphy arrived at the address he had written in his reply to Wood.

It was a Muggle farm on the outskirts of London, which Murphy had bought a couple of days ago.

At this moment, Alex Wood was already waiting in front of the barn door. The clothes on him neither fit nor matched. He wore a pair of leather boots and a tall top hat, dressed like a lunatic beggar.

But this was standard procedure for wizards, so Murphy wasn't surprised.

He opened the barn door and let Alex go in.

"I need you to brew a bottle of Beauty Potion. Do you know what the ingredients are?"

"B-Beauty Potion?" Alex was a little nervous. He had thought the man would ask him to brew something like Herbicide Potion or Doxycide. Beauty Potion was not his specialty.

Still, since he was already here, he tried hard to recall the potion-making techniques he had learned. "Lady's mantle, fairy wings, flower petals, ginger root powder... and... unicorn horn powder..."

"Unicorn hair, not horn powder. The rest is about right," Murphy said. He did not make things difficult for him, and simply placed a sheet of paper with the formula and production steps already written out in front of Alex.

"Follow this. If you can make it, you pass."

He was recruiting a wizard assistant, not giving an exam. Since there was clearly a formula, there was no need to force the man to memorize it. He had even prepared the potion ingredients for him.

"Oh, oh, all right!" Alex let out a huge sigh of relief.

He set up the collapsible cauldron, skillfully lit a fire with his wand, made the cauldron float above the flames, and then carefully began operating according to the steps.

Half an hour later, Murphy glanced at the purple solution in the pot and ladled out enough to fill a test tube.

"How do you think you did?"

"It should be... a success?" Alex said, not entirely sure.

Murphy handed the test tube over. "Drink it. Try it."

Alex hesitated for a while, then went over his production steps again and again. After confirming that it was unlikely he had made poison, he gritted his teeth, took the test tube, and downed it in one gulp.

Very soon, the potion took effect.

The freckles covering Alex's face gradually faded away. His round cheeks visibly slimmed down, becoming sharp and defined. His flat, bulbous nose straightened and lifted. His puffy eyes were drawn out longer, his eye sockets sank in, and his brow bones rose, as if a carving knife were rapidly cutting and sketching across Alex's face.

A moment later, a handsome man with thick brows, large eyes, and a deep gaze stood before Murphy.

His appearance could not be said to be exactly the same as Alex's before; it could only be said to have nothing to do with it at all.

Aside from the overall layout of his facial features, almost no trace of the original Alex could be seen anymore.

It had actually transformed an average nobody into a handsome man fit for a magazine spread in half a minute.

Beauty Potion was terrifying indeed!

Murphy lifted Alex's shirt and examined his well-proportioned body, which had already turned into one with eight-pack abs. He could not help nodding. "I didn't expect you to have quite a bit of talent with this potion."

Alex scratched the back of his head. "Heh heh, I didn't expect the effect to be this good either."

Tch.

The guy was dressed in rags, looking like a beggar before. Yet now, with those clothes on him, he actually had a somewhat unruly, carefree charm.

That shy smile could originally only be described as sleazy, greasy, humble, and off-putting. But on this handsome face now, it had become bashful, cute, sunny, and good-looking.

Damn it, looks really were justice!

Unfortunately, this potion was of no use to him.

After all, his own face already had nothing that needed touching up.

"You pass." Murphy patted Alex on the shoulder, then took a pouch from his waist.

"Now, let's talk about your job."