Now what? He didn't have any hope of escaping Britain, after all the illegal Portkey stations had been removed. They would probably return, sooner or later, but what was he to do until then? He knew the basics of making his own Portkey, but he had never actually done it before. Besides, he didn't want to break any more laws, and making Portkeys were highly regulated for a reason. Apparating across water was also something he had never tried before. He could try a Muggle way of transport, but if he had a Magical travel ban, that would soon spread to Muggle authorities as well. He didn't know if ferries or trains checked IDs and he didn't know how to fake one that Muggle authorities would accept. Muggle transport also cost money, and he didn't know anywhere other than Gringotts to exchange Galleons for Muggle money.
He had considered going to Draco, but he didn't want to put him in an awkward position. While most of the Weasleys accepted Draco now, because of Scorpius, asking him to hide Albus from his family could cause old feelings of distrust to come up again. He would be better off asking someone else in his family to hide him, but he wasn't sure which ones. He doubted his father would search very hard for him, but whoever he tried to contact would have to be able to lie, if Harry or Hermione asked about him. He had disabled his Tracker, but that didn't mean his father wouldn't be able to find him, if he wanted to, if he was staying with the family.
As the sun began to set, Albus was walking on yet another random hillside going over his options when the ground suddenly disappeared under him. Again. He fell down for what felt like an eternity, but it was probably less than 20 seconds. He didn't even have time to control his speed. Luckily the hole seemed to be a constructed descent, since his momentum was stopped just before he hit the ground hard. There wasn't a cage here. Nor was it a hole like the one Scorpius had been trapped in. There were several others there as well, and they seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see them. He kept a tight hold on his wand but didn't raise it. He didn't know anything about these people, but he didn't want to be the one to start hostilities.
"Who are you? How did you find our secret passage?" one of the men asked.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burst in like this," Albus replied. "I was just out walking, when the ground opened under me, and I fell down here."
The man narrowed his eyes.
"You look familiar. Have we met?"
"I don't know. I can't see you." Most of the people around him were still shrouded in shadow, he didn't know if that was on purpose or not.
"Who are you?"
Albus sighed. He supposed he had to give his name, if this was to move forward. And if the man recognised him already, there was no way he could give a false one. Sooner or later, the man speaking would remember where he had seen him before.
"My name is Albus Potter."
The men's eyes widened in shock.
"POTTER? What are you doing here?"
"Like I said, I didn't intend to come here. I was out walking and fell down. Now, who are you, and what is this place exactly? I've had my fair share of unpleasant experiences today, please don't make me do something unpleasant again."
"You just happened to be out walking in a remote area and just happened to be on top of our passage the moment we opened it?"
"Yes."
"I don't believe you."
Albus held back a sarcastic remark but didn't know what else to say. Several other people came over as well. Some of them seemed to recognise him, they whispered his name to the rest of them. "Auror" was mentioned several times, though not with hostility. Who were these people?
"Listen, I'm sorry I disturbed you. Like I said, it wasn't my intention."
"If you weren't looking for us, why were you out there alone? You Aurors are rarely out alone. These days, you seem to go in large packs."
"You're right. However, currently I am not welcome at the Ministry. I screwed up badly this morning and I am trying to stay away so that my father won't have to arrest me."
Dead silence followed that statement.
"Why would your father arrest you? What did you do, kill someone?" Albus didn't reply. The woman who had asked took a step back in shock.
"You really killed someone? Who? Why?"
"It was an accident. The problem was that it was also a fellow Auror."