The Interplanar College, # 11— "Quarreling, or Not Quite"
- David Parker
- Oct 3, 2023
- 5 min read
The Interplanar University— “Quarreling, or Not Quite.”
[Short stories. Images generated by hotpotai.]
Sansha convened with Destin in a pocket-dimension cafe, Kilik currently in a different class during their tea hour. Jak-Then, a fellow moslem and a psyker, was attempting to quarrel with Sansha, but he would be met with the dagger-like words of Destin, a ratkin warrior.
“The Bloc fails because of women like you,” said Jak-Then, “if you can’t perform even the smallest requirements, then we will lose the mandate of Allah.”
Destin was nearly spitting venom. “We perform all the requirements on our homeworld of Maeria. You know nothing of the burden of faith!”
Jak-Then choked with rage, then growled, “Then Maeria is a planet of infidels.”
Sansha said coolly, “Do the math, Jak-Then. The women here only observe the old rules by choice. Billions have never heard of your world, or even Terra. I myself wear the hijab during the appropriate times.”
Jak-Then seethed.
“Would you like a spray of cool water for your ears? Your temper is building,” said Sansha.
Jak-Then didn’t say yes, but his fury burned all the more.
That was the time that Ginny, Hermione, and Harry joined the only empty seats in the cafe with the three moslems. It was common knowledge that the interplanar University, Havenforth, was infused with the power of Fate, purportedly by the hands of the Spirit of Havenforth himself. This meant that there were no such things as random collisions, unless it served the mysterious Purpose of the College.
At any rate, the three students of magic, under the Auspice of Magos, meekly greeted the three that were sure to be from the Moslem Bloc, which along with Ethos and others, famously did not get along with wizardkind.
Sansha offered some ginger cookies; In Havenforth’s sphere of influence, money (called Coin) was tracked in mystic bracelets, and any form of self-edification or value added to your surroundings would result in Coin. Sansha, being a voracious student of the writings of the Ancients, had an ample supply of Coin, and in accordance with Islam, she willingly tithed her Coin for charitable purposes; although sharing ginger cookies was not a real sacrifice.
Jak-Then nearly choked with rage, yet it was Destin who spoke up.
“Sitting next to them is one thing, Sansha. But eating with them?”
“We are Students. Not The Base. We are open-minded. How do you win souls by building walls?”
In their native tongue, Taliban was the word for Students, and Al-Qaeda were the words for The Base. They had no special love for Jak-Then.
Jak-Then stormed off, loudly dumping his litter into a bin, and saying something in a foreign language.
“Well, thank you for choosing us over him,” said Harry, helping himself to a ginger cookie, to be polite. Harry was already acquainted with Sansha, knowing she along with Destin was a companion of their lynchpin, Kilik the Seer. Harry did not mention this during their time together over tea.
Sansha laughed warmly, “Ah, it wasn’t a very hard choice.”
The two witches suppressed laughter.
Harry said, “I get the feeling you like to advance… your religion, you know. What do you do for fun?”
“We aren’t children,” said Destin.
Sansha waved her hand dismissively, “My water-bending does not serve well enough to explore the planes outside the Sphere of Havenforth, even with Destin and Kilik.”
Harry wanted to know how that qualified as ‘fun’, but Ginny interrupted.
“Kilik? Kilik the Seer? Ron’s new older brother?” said Ginny.
“He’s quite young, actually,” said Sansha, “I’m always in love with how famous he is.”
Harry was famous among Magos, but did not share this.
“How do you know he can see the future?”
Destin began thrumming the table with his clawed fingers, a visible sign of impatience.
“He could always see whether our… fighters… would win or lose,” said Sansha.
“We’d like to do a science experiment,” said Hermione, “Test him if he really knows the future.”
“Blasphemy,” said Destin. “You dare put God to the test?”
“You said he was a seer. Now he’s God?”
Destin bared his teeth.
Sansha said, “He is the Mouth of Allah. If you push your luck, you will be condemned.”
“Then how can we trust him?”
“The testimony of others.”
“Well how do we know if we’re condemned?”
“The same way he knows the future.”
There was silence.
“You are Magos. Why are you questioning his power?” said Sansha.
“Why don’t you just tell us why to wear head-coverings? You’re not even wearing one.”
Destin seethed.
Sansha said, “Do you need a spray of water for your ears, Destin?”
“No, I prefer to boil.” He appeared to mean what he said.
“Very well. Incidentally, he did not say hijab, only head-coverings.”
“Which includes hijabs?”
“...What’s your point?”
“We aren’t like you. We are free.”
“Ah, I see. I need to kowtow to your delusions, because if I choose Islam, I’m a dog.”
The three Magos students were shocked and quite terrified.
“If I ever see you on the planes, I’ll—”
“NO, Destin,” Said Sansha. “Let them explain why they’re better than us.”
Harry stammered slightly, “W-We just want to know, why head-coverings.”
“Why not ask Kilik?”
“Why not ask you? You’re not even wearing one.”
“I wear one at all the proper times.”
“Why wear one at all?”
“Why not walk around naked?”
“But why only the women?”
“Well why not wear a skirt? Harry Potter. I know who you are.”
“Your people don’t wear skirts.”
“Blah, blah, blah. I can go on just as long as you can,” said Sansha.
There was silence from the Magos, and Destin made a crooked smile, showing his pointy teeth.
“Well, I’m out of cheddar,” said Destin, pleased with an ostensible victory for the Bloc, “Must be off to learn about the heathen god of Music,” to which he was referring to the course, Music’s Planar Influence. He took his tray and departed.
“We’re sorry,” said Harry.
“You're alright. But I just feel out of place without my brethren. And I do have an errand before The Laws of Portals starts,” that being another course for first-years.
And so Sansha departed as well.
The three friends from Hogwarts didn’t have as much fun as they usually had when they had down time, and they worked around the previous subject, all of them being rather sore. Being familiar only with muggles from Ethos, they were quite hapless against a different type of muggle altogether, if they could be called that anymore. However, the pilgrims to Havenforth were grateful that the mourning of death was coming to an end, along with the difficult reality of pain and human needs. Strife there was, but fulfilling the Purpose of the College was inevitable.
*-------------------------------------------*
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