25) Listening to the history of Ysgramor and his victory against the Snow Elves

-College of Whispers-

Had Draco known that the lecture was about Ysgramor's history, he wouldn't have signed up for it and waste all his time travelling all the way to the College of Whispers in Cyrodiil from Skyrim.

The College of Winterhold does offer plenty of learning opportunities, such as expeditions and going to other mage guilds for further learning, although the Arch Mage Savos Aren preferred not to. Since the College of Whispers was known to have a lot of lore on the Oblivion Crisis, Draco signed up for the trip to the College of Whispers, hoping to learn more about the events of the Oblivion Crisis. However, when he went all the way down there and attended the first lecture, it was not really what he was expecting.

The lecture was about the history of Skyrim, Ysgramor, the Five Hundred Companions, and the fall of the Snow Elves. It was a topic that he knew well, very well in fact.

Apparently, Draco knew that he had only himself to blame. The letter never said that there were lectures on the Oblivion Crisis at all. Draco just assumed that there would be. But then again, his current lecture was just the first. Hopefully, one of the remaining lectures would be about the Oblivion Crisis and he would be able to listen about it.

That is only if he is able to 'survive' his current lecture.

And unfortunately, the professor giving the lecture is a NORD.

"Blah… blah… blah," the professor droned.

That was what the professor said, well from Draco's point of view. He really felt like sleeping already. This went on for ten minutes until the professor said something that caught his attention.

"The Snow Elves brought this fate upon their own selves," the professor said. "Had they not attacked Saarthal, they probably wouldn't have been living as abominations as we see today."

Draco groaned.

"Now, before anyone of you conclude that Ysgramor and the Five Hundred Companions were cruel and forcefully drove out the Snow Elves out of Skyrim, I have to say that it was the Dwarves' cruelty that caused the Snow Elves to turn into the Falmer we see today."

'Directly got that from the Pocket Guide to the Empire First Edition,' Draco thought.

An Imperial student raised up his hand and asked, "But why did the Snow Elves attack Saarthal in the first place?"

Draco wanted to answer 'Because the bloody Atmorans wanted the power of the Eye of Magnus to themselves and the Snow Elves were afraid that the Atmorans would abuse it, as some of them were Dragon Priests'. However, the professor said, "The Snow Elves were afraid of the increasing population of the Atmoran settlers and feared that they would be overrun one day. So, in order to protect themselves, they decided to kill everyone in Saarthal."

'Again, from the Pocket Guide to the Empire First Edition,' Draco thought.

"However, there is some dispute that this was not the reason why the Snow Elves attacked Saarthal," the professor continued.

'Here we go, the Night of Tears,' Draco thought. 'More lies again.'

"There is a source that says that the Atmoran settlers uncovered something of great power beneath Saarthal, and the Snow Elves wanted it for themselves."

'Lies,' Draco thought. 'It was the other way round. Luckily for me, I had an expedition to Saarthal, and saw the draugr Jyrik Gauldurson harnessing the power of the Eye of Magnus.'

"The act of Ysgramor and the Five Hundred Companions was justified."

That did it.

"BOOOOOOOOOO!" Draco shouted from his seat. "BOOOOOOOO!"

"I'm sorry, but what was that booing for?" the professor asked loudly, feeling angry.

"I would really like to know how competent you are as a professor!" Draco shouted. "What you said are all lies! All of them! Okay, except for the part where the Dwemer are directly responsible for the Snow Elves' plight. But the Atmorans are the ones that are primarily responsible for it!"

"Hey! You don't have the right to say that!" a Nord student from the other side of the hall shouted.

"Ignorant elf! You know nothing!" another Nord shouted.

Anyway, all of the Nord students countered back. The non-Nord students just looked at each other in confusion or just kept quiet and listened.

"Since you think you are so smart," the professor said, tone clearly rising. "Why don't you give the lecture instead?"

"Sure! It would be my pleasure!" Draco shouted as he sauntered his way to the stage.

Once he reached the stage, he could feel the professor giving him a glare, but Draco just ignored him. Draco cleared his breath and looked at the audience as he continued the lecture.

"Hello and good afternoon lads and lasses, what a wonderful weather we're having," Draco began.

Outside the College of Whispers, it was raining heavily and there were signs of lightning, which could be easily seen through the windows of the lecture hall.

"Now, let's begin. You don't need to know who I am, but I am from the College of Winterhold in Skyrim and learnt many things there. Anyway, let's just cut to the chase and begin. You say 'Snow Elves are just as evil as the Thalmor! Snow Elves slaughtered the people at Saarthal! Ysgramor did a mass genocide and it was only fair! They didn't turn into Falmer because of Atmorans, but Dwemer! Blame the Dwemer, not the Atmorans! Snow Elves attacked Saarthal because they're cowards!' If I hear that, I will reply 'Yeah, you got that from the Pocket Guide to the Empire First Edition, which is completely biased and unreliable'."

"And how are you going to prove that the Pocket Guide was unreliable?" a Nord student retorted.

"Patience, I was just getting to that," Draco replied. "And where are your manners, you didn't even raise up your hand to ask a question, but never mind, I don't wish to waste my time on that. So where was I? Oh yes, the Pocket Guide. The Pocket Guide was written by the victors: Ysgramor and the Five Hundred Companions and it is massively biased against the Elves."

"Yeah, but it was…" another Nord student retorted but he was interrupted not long after.

"I know what you're trying to say. You're going to say that the Pocket Guide was edited by an unknown male elf that has a strong dislike of the humans and the Empire. But remember, the humans dominated the elves that time, so that editor must have some restrictions in editing the Guide. Now please, let me continue. There is another source that says that the Atmorans uncovered something powerful in Saarthal and wanted to keep it away from everyone else. And the Snow Elves invaded Saarthal as they coveted that 'something' and wanted to keep it for themselves. My first response to this? I'd say that it was the OTHER WAY ROUND!"

"Now, I know all of you are wondering how I'm going to prove this claim. Let's just say that the College of Winterhold has approved an expedition to Saarthal for the students. And I saw a draugr harnessing power from that 'something', and I'm not going to say what it was."

There were now murmurs from the audience, except for the Nord students, who gave Draco a glare instead.

Draco continued. "Let me share with all of you my theory. I'd say that the Snow Elves were protecting that 'something' from the Atmorans, because the Snow Elves knew that the Atmorans could not handle the power from that 'something'. Moreover, some of the Atmorans were Dragon Priests, who are brutal and oppressive. Now, all of you must be wondering how I uncovered this idea. I say that according to many books that are written by humans, the Snow Elves were a very proud, prosperous people and did not want war with the Atmorans, which leads us to the question, why attack Saarthal if they were at peace with them? Most scholars would say that the attacked to covet the power of that 'something' to themselves. However, this was not always the case. The Atmorans claim to be peaceful people but just look. Slaughter everyone in one city? Respond by performing genocide on the entire Snow Elf race. Ysgramor's logic. By the way, I don't think the Ancient Falmer wanted to slaughter the Atmorans, they just wanted to drive them away."

"Now, all of you have to realise that the Five Hundred Companions are completely set on being douchebags under Ysgramor's campaign of revenge. Although here was nothing to clearly say whether the Ancient Falmer or the Atmorans were wrong, Ysgramor saw the attack on Saarthal as a 'massacre'. In my opinion, there was no 'massacre' at all, the Ancient Falmer only wanted to drive the Atmorans out of Skyrim. By now, you should have noticed that I address the Snow Elves as 'Ancient Falmer' now. I prefer to address them that way. The Ancient Falmer never wanted to slaughter every single Atmoran, but the Atmorans wanted to slaughter all Ancient Falmer. But as you know, the remaining Ancient Falmer who managed to escape made a deal with the Dwemer, and that resulted in their ultimate demise. Who caused the Ancient Falmer to turn to the Dwemer? The Atmorans."

The entire audience (except for the Nord students) became much more interested in what Draco was saying and begun taking down a lot of notes. The professor's face was now red in anger.

"Well, the Falmer still attacked first!" the professor shouted at Draco.

"I think it's considered false by now," Draco said. "Ysgramor and his fellow Atmorans fled from a violent civil war in Atmora, so it's quite clear that the Atmorans aren't really that peaceful like some would claim. Let me tell you all of this, the Atmorans and the Nords deserved to be KICKED OUT OF SKYRIM!"

The professor left the hall and then out of the College doors upon hearing that and approached an Imperial Watch Captain. He said to Watch Captain, "We got a situation…"

-Back in the lecture hall-

"Now, Ysgramor's campaign of genocide on the Ancient Falmer didn't end upon his death," Draco continued. "It continued in Skyrim when it was under the reign of King Harald, the thirteenth of Ysgramor's line. Thirteenth. THIRTEENTH! This is completely ridiculous! For attacking a single city, the elimination of the entire race continues for centuries after that attack! I wonder how many times I mentioned this now. Anyway, the Atmorans are bastards! Douchebags! Assholes!"

"Starting to swear right now…" an Imperial student whispered to the Dunmer student sitting next to him.

"I think his choice of words were good," the Dunmer student replied. "I've heard about how my kind was treated in the city of Windhelm."

Draco continued. "Now, before I end this lecture, I have one last thing to add on. Did you know, that in Skyrim, there is this common saying by Nords during a battle, 'Skyrim belong to the Nords!' Yes, it's a common battle cry of a Stormcloak, a Nord bandit, a Nord thief and so on. You know what? I hate it when they say that. Because Skyrim doesn't belong to the Nords, it belongs to the Snow Elves… oh and the Dwemer, but mostly Snow Elves. Anyway, as a result, Skyrim belongs to the Snow Elves. If anyone here agrees with me on this, do me a favour will ya? If you visit Skyrim and hear someone shout 'Skyrim belongs to the Nords!', respond back by shouting 'SKYRIM BELONGS TO THE SNOW ELVES!'"

And after that, the entire audience (except for the Nord students) stood up and cheered, obviously impressed by Draco's lecture.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Draco said as he bowed to the audience.

"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!" a commanding voice pierced through the lecture hall, silencing everyone.

Everyone turned to see an Imperial Watch Captain and a few more guards marching up to Draco.

'I could tell where this is coming from,' Draco thought. 'The professor hates me and no doubt will report my 'inappropriate' attitude and behaviour to Savos Aren and Mirabelle Ervine.'

"You violated the law! Now…"

"Pay a fine or serve my sentence and my stolen goods are now forfeit right?" Draco interrupted. "This is a common saying by City Guards in Cyrodiil dated all the way back to the famous Septim Empire. Too bad the guards of the Mede Empire are a bunch of lazy pigs. I heard that during the Septim Empire, the guards will do all sorts of funny tricks to arrest criminals no matter what. But now…"

"It's off to jail then!"

"If you can catch me," Draco replied as he sprinted past the Imperial Watch guards.

And the chase is on!

A few days later…

Faralda sighed as she saw the queue of apprentices lining up to take the test of merit to enter the College of Winterhold. There hadn't been that many apprentices before. What was the reason?

Well, when she questioned the apprentices about what they seek from the College, most of the students replied, "Learn more about Ancient Falmer."

"Draco…" Faralda muttered quietly to herself.

A/N: All right. I will mark this as complete. But if suddenly have another idea, I would expand this a little more...