Severus woke Saturday morning, rolled out of bed, and immediately jumped in the shower. Once clean he stepped out and dried off then looked at himself in the mirror. It was amazing what less stress could do to ones health. The side of the light won the war, Voldemort was dead, and Harry was alive. And ever the genius and paranoid spy he was he was smart enough to always walk around with three vials, one of dittany, one of blood replenisher, and one of an antidote should for some reason he be bit by Nagini. One did not become a potions master for the Dark Lord and not see it as prudent to have such an antidote on hand.
But now he was stress free. It was now two months after that final battle. The wounds he got were completely healed, the dark mark had disappeared completely, and he was calmer now. Though he would still be the dour potions master of the dungeons come the next school term. As he looked in the mirror he noticed that he had put on some weight finally with no bony protrusions and didn't look so pale and sallow. Once he was freed from St. Mungos and his innocence proven Severus had set to brewing a few potions to better himself. No more jaundiced looking skin, it was now an alabaster white with a slight tan on the bits of skin that were allowed to be exposed to the summer sun.
His health had taken an all around improvement from what it was. He was even enjoying the idea of sleeping for a full night without interruption or fear for the first time in his life. He was actually thoroughly enjoying his new healthier and slightly bulkier physique (not to say he was fat but he wasn't thin either). Severus had even taken to exercise by going on long walks through the Forbidden Forest, occasionally running into the centaurs with which he had a quiet understanding.
But at the moment Severus needed to get up to breakfast and then the staff meeting. How he loathed those but as Minerva was now Headmistress she got to the point in her meetings allowing them to be much shorter than Albus'. Severus brushed his teeth and got dressed and headed up to the Great Hall in a swish of robes. It was July but the castle was still cold. He side stepped elven works repairing the castle who were fixing the battle scarred castle in record time and were doing it remarkably quietly. Severus entered through the side door and sat in his customary seat at the end of the long table. He was alone for the moment and set to quietly filling his plate and pouring himself a cup of tea. Gone were the days where he needed the caffeine of strong black coffee to get through the day.
Slowly the other staff sidled into the great Hall and took their seats saying soft good mornings to each other.
"Professor." Said Hagrid in loo of a good morning greeting.
"Hagrid." Responded Severus. They sat quietly and ate. Severus waited for everyone else to leave to go to Minerva's office before he got up himself. He strode into her office and sat in his customary seat and waited.
"I'll get right to the point as I'm sure the lot of us would like to get to our vacations. First, the castle should be fully repaired by the end of this month. Those elves are very industrious. Second, as I am now Headmistress we will be acquiring another professor of Transfiguration. She comes from The Salem school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and will be helping me revamp the curriculum here, which is in much need of some change." She said this giving Albus' portrait a side eyed glare. "As she will be helping me change up the curriculum she has given me some ideas for change that I must say are pure genius. I will pass these changes on to the rest of you." As she said this rolled scrolls were passed out to the faculty. "That will be all and I expect to see you all back by mid August."
Everyone stood and chatted amongst themselves but Severus slipped out the office and returned to his rooms. Once in his sitting room he shrugged off his robes and jacket and sat on his sofa. He unrolled the scroll and looked at the changes. The first surprised him. The housing system would change. Instead the houses were comprised of year meaning first and second years would be in Huffelpuff, third and fourth years would be in Gryffindor, fifth and sixth in Ravenclaw, and the Seventh years in Slytherin. Severus was actually impressed with this. That meant, as the head of Slytherin, he only had to deal with the eldest students.
The next change would be the introduction of honors courses that had nothing to do with NEWTS. These would allow the students to pursue the classes they are good in and potentially gain a little more knowledge and insight on what they may want to do. The list after that were simple changes until he got to the last change. An introduction of a muggle computer lab. He had questions about this but would ask this new professor when she arrived. In the meantime Severus left the parchment on his coffee table and went to his lab to start the infirmary stock for the upcoming term.