If I throw a stick, will you leave?

Preston casually strolled through the entrance to The Malfoy Manor, sighing as he did so. He kept his hands in his pocket as he nodded to a fellow Death Eater walking in the opposite direction. Idiot he thought as he started up the steps to the main entrance. Taking his hands out of his pocket he gave the door a good push and it opened with a loud creak. Whoever owns this place should get that bloody door fixed. he thought once again as he turned to look at them. He pulled out his wand, tempted to do it himself, but quickly pocketed it. He was doing enough for the Death Eater's today, much to his dismay.

He was supposed to be "helping" a Death Eater. He knew helping was code for babysit and train a new recruit. Something a Death Eater was not normally set to do but he had managed to pissed some people off a while back. He supposed this was his reward, totally worth it though. He smirked at the memory of how he had humiliated a few low level thugs with a few words. He made his way through the manor not stopping to chat or look at anyone. He decided to grab himself a cup of coffee from the kitchen and then make his way to the back yard where he would be "training" this new Death Eater.

After he had gotten his coffee he grabbed a donut. A little snack never hurt anyone, especially in the mornings. And the kitchens were always full, so there were plenty of donuts to go around. By the time he made it to the back door that lead into the backyard, he had finished the donut and nearly finished his coffee. He was never one for tea, it was too weak for him. With a quick gulp he downed the coffee and opened the back door with another creak. He groaned and started towards a thin woman who was standing with her back to the door. She looked young, Oh, beautiful he thought sarcastically and pulled out his wand. "Alright, let's get this over with." he said as he came up from behind her.

So far, Miss Sofia Alice Elkin had found this country to be absolutely nothing as she had expected. There was no discipline, so dignity, no efficiency. Clearly, no one thought her capable of much because she seemed a tad pristine. She had always been bored to death by the cutthroat bad women with their leather, vodka, and knives. Why pride yourself on being a woman if you were to act so much like a man? Pretty much every one of the female death eaters reminded Sofie of that. That was why everyone assumed she was childish and without capabilities. That was how she had earned a babysitter.

Sofie could stay quiet though. She knew that every opportunity had an advantage and she was willing to find one in this situation. She had a mission to remember and while she was here, she would continue to move towards her goals. Sofie was not wasteful. She knew when it was best to take advantage of what she considered to be a foul situation.

At least she was not with one of the females. She had no idea what this 'Preston' fellow had planned, so she had ditched her usual dress and worn something much more suitable and versatile. She pinned her hair up into a messy bun and waited outside, standing stock still as her eyes gently traveled over the countryside, her wand hanging loosely in her right hand. She heard a voice behind her and blinked as her eyes met his. "You're just as excited as I am," she said politely, her Russian accent drowning out the sarcasm and making her almost sound sincere. "And another sarcastic Death Eater. Imagine that." She blinked again and waited for him to move so she could follow.

Preston rolled his eyes as soon as he heard her accent. What luck, he had managed to get stuck with a baby Russian. He mentally groaned at the troubles with communicating they would experience as their time together drew on. He twirled his wand in between the fingers on his right hand and pursed his lips. Although she seemed young and reckless he could sense an air of discipline with her. She stood straight and didn't talk back, although he could of sworn he heard a hint of sarcasm with her previous statement. He made a mental note about that and quickly check her over. She was thin, which meant she might be good at being sneaky. Disciplined and sneaky, this might not be so bad after all. But he mustn't draw any conclusions before the test run. He blinked at her and stopped twirling his wand.

"Right, first things first I'm going to need all of your basic information." he told her as he put his hands behind his back and circle around her. "Name, age, school, birth place, all that." he finished in a monotone voice. He stopped in front of her, hands still behind his back. He quickly flicked his wand towards the back door and it closed and locked itself. NO interference he thought.

As much as he was displeased with this task he couldn't help but find a small interest with this young one. He knew her name was Sofie, and he could tell that she was from Russia. The accent gave away the latter of the two. But there a mystery to her, why was she here? There were plenty of dark magic users and organizations in Russia. Half of them from Durmstrang, which was the school she went to obviously. That accent is too thick which means she hasn't been in the U.K. for long. He made another mental note and focused back on her.

Sofie kept the small smile she wanted to express to herself when it had appeared that this Death Eater had not caught on to her little quip. Ah, the accent. She would take it slower and see if she could get more into the English accent her mother had been so keen on enforcing in her. Sofie swore that the girls were forced to learn English so her mother, the Elder Alice, could have a link to her own home. Sofie could not escape the fact that she had been raised in a very Russian household. She was sort of a halfbreed. Her sister was fully Russian, always struggling with English.

He asked for her information and she began, starting with what she heard last and working her way up; Sofie had always been a bit eccentric in small ways like that. “I was born in St. Petersburg and I went to Durmstrang. I am nineteen years old and my name is Sofia Elkin.” With her always-coy smile and sparkling eyes, she added, “You can call me Sofie, however. It is much more pleasing to the ear, I think.” She tipped her head.

She has answered all of his questions, but she supposed she had better add something she found very important to her being in the organization. “My father was the leader of the Russian Death Eaters. Gregor Elkin.”

Sofia, most likely spelled with an f and not a "ph". He noted the info that she gave him and put it in the back of his brain. Useless information, he just wanted to see how she would react. She was easy going, that was good. He sounded like a general inside his head-he didn't like it. He mentally shook his head and continued on. "Very well Sofie, what are you especially skilled in?" he asked her. This training would probably be focused on whatever she was already good in. Sure the typical idea would be to focus on her weaker points but Preston didn't want to be here. And he was pretty sure she didn't want to be here either. So he decided get it over with as fast as possible; and hope to God they don't make it permanent.

He shuddered at the thought of permanently being stuck with mentoring this child. However he mustn't judge a book by it's cover. Of course he'll have to push her, and he was having a bad day already so make it double.

Sofie pondered the question. "Well, I honestly think the best asset I have to you and the others is the fact that I am new, relatively unknown, and not a dead giveaway like all the other women in the organization. I have studied theatrew theoretically so I am probably perfectly poised for some undercover work." This was all said in her soft, tinkling tones. She spoke pragmatically, rationally, logically. Emotion did not influence her, though she was naturally soft. "I'd be perfect for recruiting younger wizards and witches too." However, she knew this was not all Preston wanted.

"Technically, I was trained by my father to duel so I can hold my own. I can tie and untie any knot, so traps in general are easy." She shrugged. "I know the language and the way the Death Eaters work most efficiently. Those are my skills." It was not much, she knew it, but she was never claiming to be perfect. She would eventually take up the lead in the Russian Death Eaters, she knew, but it was for her mind that she would. She was the rightful heir.

Preston listened intently on her string of words. He liked how she spoke, very to the point and simple. No information that was unnecessary. He was impressed to say the least, perhaps this wasn't going to be such a bad job. She claimed to be skilled however Preston was not so sure of it. He needed to see proof before he made any anchored judgments or ideas about/for her. He did not show that he was impressed either. He kept a straight face the entire time she spoke, keeping his head high. He nodded when she appeared to have finished. It wasn't much, Preston might even consider himself to be more of an asset to the Death Eaters.

However there was the matter of the Russian Death Eater association. She could easily spill all of the British Death Eater's secrets within minutes of a meeting. That worried him and he did not like it. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and held it firmly in his hand behind his back.

"Very well," he said calmly. "We shall put your skills to the test then." he told her. He looked around at the dummies surrounding the back yard of the manor. Preston was fairly skilled when it came to dueling. And when he could not win he outsmarted his opponent. He pointed his wand at her, "Incarserous." he muttered as ropes tied her hands together. "Normally those ropes would have to be removed magically. However I have made it so that if you are truly as skilled as you claim to be, you can remove them with ease." he gave her a quick fake smile.

Sofie was not unhappy to be given a test; in fact, it reassured her that someone in the organization had the sense to question what she said rather than take it all for truth. Thus far, she had entered and left Malfoy Manor unquestioned for her presence, motivation, skill, or intentions. Someone was finally deciding to question her assertions of one of those matters. The girl was not afraid of the tests; those she failed, she failed for the reason that she needed to learn.

Ropes came out at her and she blinked, allowing them too. Her wand had already been tucked away so she looked at her evaluator, waiting to see what was asked of her. When he told her, she supposed this had to do with her claims about her abilities with a knot. She nodded as he informed her she was to make an escape and immediately began.

She had nimble hands, flexible wrists, and thin fingers. So it was easy enough to invert her wrists and flip her fingers along the rope, deftly evaluating the kind. It was simple enough and, while tight, had its own imperfection. She found a frayed rope and immediately picked at it with her nail, loosening the thread. It allowed her to slip two fingers in the space in the knot and push in opposing directions. As she did, she slipped her other hand upwards and the ropes fell from her wrists to her feet. She reached down, picked up the rope, and did a series of quick knots over it, and then undid every other knot. The remaining rope had four knots and she threw it back to Preston. “Those can’t be undone by hand. A quick charm makes them impervious to magic as well.”