Copying an old private key (from 2011) into Electrum: any risks?
No, Bitcoin Core (formerly known as Bitcoin-QT) is not a wallet, it is a full node software + wallet, so there are better software to use as a wallet. Sure, you can use Bitcoin Core, but you'll need to keep your Bitcoin Core connected to the internet for days to synchronize.

To summarize, you should use a wallet software (sure, Electrum!) to import (or sweep the funds of) the private key.

Note: A few satoshis is worthless. The median transaction fee is currently 110,740 satoshis. according to this.