Chapter 18: 17) Paths of Destiny
On its first weekend, the movie, The Sixth Sense, grossed 30 millions with the box office showing no hint of decline in the coming months. The industry knew that it was the second film grossing 300 millions in North America after Home Alone.
The movie helped Amelia in her career immensely as Thane simply rejected all the offers sent to him. He was simply going to act in Home Alone 2 and nothing more.
In the meantime because of back to back success of his films and his huge popularity, all three of his books became best sellers. Thane had not stopped writing and had already finished writing all the sequels of A Song of Ice and Fire as well as Twilight, which wasn't really much with his super speed.
He gave them to Amelia to release periodically while he himself started writing other works like Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar, Despicable Me, Frozen, Matrix, Friends, Breaking Bad, Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, The Office, money Heist, The Witcher, The X-files, Buffy the vampire slayer, The conjuring, Scream, Saw, The others, Train to Busan, Jurassic Park, Hellboy, Lucifer, Band of Brothers, Rick and Morty, Survivor, The Voice, America's Got Talent, The real Housewives Franchise, Love Island, American idol, MasterChef, Who wants to be a millionaire, The Incredibles, Hunger Games, John wick, Mission impossible, Kingsmen and the secret service, Jhonny English etc…
Thane had meticulously planned a concrete timeline for his writings and had even discussed with James and Amelia the possibility of acquiring a publishing company at the earliest opportunity.
Thane wanted to make sure that his Parents would never lack work and money. He knew very well that Hollywood itself was not a clean place and making them slightly more valuable was his way of making sure that people would have scruples about confronting them head-on. That's why he also told his father to get in contact with Rowan Atkinson and help in Mr. Bean.. as well as Jim Carrey for other iconic movies..
Amidst all the new ventures and cherished family moments, time seemed to fly by. One day, James surprised Thane and Amelia by bringing a guest home. To Thane's astonishment, the visitor was none other than Scott Swift—future father of Taylor Swift and their potential investment agent.
But Thane still tried to make very sure that Mr. Swift was trustworthy. After an intense one-hour interview, they finally decided to employ him. Thane would not be contacting Scott directly for the next few years and James was going to be the middle link between them.
While The Sixth Sense soared at the North American box office, Home Alone was dominating internationally. James had strategically partnered with Universal and Fox for overseas distribution, ensuring the films' global success.
It was his birthday(12 January) 1989 that Thane started diverting his focus towards magic. More so onto the subjects that were not taught in Hogwarts. One such subject was Ritual magic and the other was Blacksmithing.
Now he started spending most of his time on studies if he was not with Amelia or James. Home Alone 2 was set to start production in a few months and Thane himself was very relaxed with this.
As the days passed and the time to leave for Hogwarts drew closer, Thane found himself growing increasingly reluctant about going to school, dreading the thought of being separated from his parents.
In his previous life, he hadn't truly appreciated his parents' love and care until they were gone. Only then did he realize how irreplaceable their selfless devotion was, leaving him longing for something no one else could provide.
Even so, he understood that some sacrifices were necessary. He consoled himself with the thought that his time at school would be brief and would ultimately give him the means to extend his parents' lives while also forging invaluable friendships.
But before anything else, he knew he needed to have an important conversation with his parents about his decision to attend Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons or Ilvermorny.
"Mom, Dad, I want to join Hogwarts," Thane confessed honestly, feeling the time had come to stop delaying the conversation.
Amelia paused, slightly taken aback by his sudden declaration, before her curiosity got the better of her.
"Baby, why Hogwarts? You could go to Beauxbatons with Fleur and Gabrielle. I studied there too, you know," she said, her voice gentle but questioning.
"Or you can go to Ilvermorny here in the US. They are more modern and acceptable to change." Amelia added trying to make Thane understand.
''Mom, I know my words might seem like excuses but I am feeling a strong intuition that I must go to Hogwarts. And as far as I know, Hogwarts is one of the oldest magical schools with the most enriching history.
Its founders fascinate me and some of the professors there like Minerva McGonagall, and Filius Flitwick are some of the best in their fields.." Thane responded softly.
"You know we won't go against your decision, Thane, unless we have a very strong reason to do so," James said after a moment of thought. "We'll arrange a meeting with Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. If her answers satisfy us, you'll be allowed to attend Hogwarts. Otherwise, you'll be going to Beauxbatons or Ilvermorny."
James's tone was firm, making it clear that the decision had been made after careful consideration. Thane, recognizing there was no point in arguing further, decided to leave it up to time and fate, trusting that things would fall into place as they were meant to.