Sitting in the Great Hall for the End of Term Feast with the Hogwarts students felt almost like an intrusion. Everywhere he looked, Kyle saw signs of sentiment and affection, and so many mixed emotions it was, quite frankly, an exhausting sight to behold. Many seemed happy for the end of the school year, others appeared exhausted (probably a by-product from the final exams and/or the competition, depending on each individual student's priorities), but Kyle could also see some unhappy faces out there. He knew what it meant of course - many Hogwarts students were leaving for good, and those left behind were sad to see them go, and perhaps even the seventh years themselves harboured bittersweet feelings about it all. Then there was the separation of the newer inter-school friendships (something Kyle hadn't quite managed to form for himself, but perhaps there was still time), soon to have the entire Atlantic Ocean between them

So yes... it felt like an intrusion. In all honesty Kyle had felt the same way even at the end of term celebrations back at Ilvermorny, given that he had never yet forged any particular attachments with students who had gone on to graduate (though that was likely to be different next year). But still, here, at Hogwarts, even though all of Ilvermorny was here too... it felt extra weird to witness all of these... feelings. Or whatever.

But still, here he was. Even Kyle knew that it would be in poor taste to not show up to the feast, given they had been hosted by Hogwarts for the entire year for the IMPS competition, and he himself had gone on to win said competition. Also, he had to admit that the food here wasn't so bad, even if he did miss the Ilvermorny food he was much more accustomed to.

Kyle had chosen the Ravenclaw table as his accommodation for the feast. While he felt more drawn to the Slytherins - and not just because of the shared serpent mascot - he also found that he had a particular affinity for those of the scholarly house, and it was with those students that he had found himself sitting with at the start of the feast. Mostly, Kyle sat there quietly, on the figurative sidelines, not wanting to interrupt any of the emotional farewells that were going on around him. While he waited for the feast, he simply observed his mostly British hosts, at one point picking up one of those curious cards that had been delivered to the entire table by the Head Boy to inspect it.

When the speech started, Kyle found he was only half listening, mostly as it was all to do with Hogwarts specific stuff, like points and the house cup. That was, of course, until his own name was mentioned. Of course. He should have expected it, really, but Kyle was still slightly taken aback as a smattering of applause followed the words 'Kyle Baker'. Not entirely sure how to gracefully handle the attention, he just sat where he was, stoic and still, having to make a conscious effort to not automatically applaud with everyone else like he had been doing up until that point.

And then the attention was off of him again, and Kyle breathed an internal sigh of relief. He fiddled absentmindedly with fork until the speech was over and the food appeared before this time giving a literal sigh, leaning back slightly where he sat, and mussing up the front of his hair.

The air of finality, it was somewhat liberating, wasn't it? The school year ending with a bang, and extravagant gesture like a feast, it was always so much better than things just slowly fizzling out. Because now, suddenly, Kyle was so very aware of how close he was to being back home, to having the time to relax and decompress and just be on his own - or with his grandparents - for a while. The thought prompted a small but content smile to replace his usually dour expression, and Kyle scanned the table for food to fill his plate up with, feeling a metaphorical weight lift from his shoulders that he had barely even noticed was there until it had gone.