Yeah, it figures that there'd be a cousin of Snivellus lurking somewhere to muck things up; 'twill be interesting to see who/what he's working for. It's rather interesting to start seeing the backstory, here; I have a feeling there's a lot more we've not seen.
Kudos on a most interesting chapter and a fascinatingly original story line.
Author's response
Things are going to get much more interesting when Harry receives two surprise visitors with really shocking news.