FOREWORD

Some pairings are easy. Others are hard, but sometimes, the harder pairings are the most rewarding. One of these ones that I wished to do was to pair Harry Potter with Atalanta, specifically her form in Fate/Apocrypha. Because sexy strong catgirl, hello? Of course, given her vow of chastity and her distrust of men, that was challenging, but by careful analysis of her legend (she did, after all, have feelings for Meleager) and her background in the Nasuverse, along with using the Nasuverse version of Artemis to help smooth things along, allowed me to begin a plausible romance for the two.

Atalanta…is one of those characters that I feel got the short end of the stick in Fate/Apocrypha, or at least the anime version. She was frankly a bit of a bitch, and while I understand her feelings about Jack the Ripper, considering she was the one to try and kill Jackie and her Master in the first place, she is a raging hypocrite. However, there were elements in that story, plus a number of fanfics and the game Fate/Grand Order, that led me to believe that I could do a story with her in the pairing, and have you sympathise with her a lot more, without sacrificing who she is.

Plus, I hope this will be a better work than my first two crossovers between the Potterverse and Fate/Apocrypha. Love and War got more than its fair share of controversy, thanks in part to the WBWL trope used for it, and Bridegroom of Frankenstein felt a bit rushed to me. This is a more slow-burning story, with Harry and company not even heading to Romania until the ninth chapter, though it's a necessity given how the pairing needs to develop. Incidentally, this story was originally published in my initial chapters anthologies as Most Dangerous Game, but this title was better.

Anyway, time for the usual disclaimers. Firstly, there will be spoilers for both Harry Potter and Fate/Apocrypha.

Secondly, there will be heavy annotations, as is usual for my works. You have been warned.

Thirdly, this is an M-Rated work. There will be coarse language, violence, and sexual references. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Harry Potter and Fate/Apocrypha are the properties of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, Atalanta will turn you into a pincushion…