After leaving the safehouse, Albert used Transfiguration to disguise himself as a middle-aged man with red hair. He could not go straight to Diagon Alley; that would be far too conspicuous, putting himself in danger and potentially bringing trouble to the trio and their newly opened joke shop.
Therefore, it was best not to let too many people know of his connection to that shop, otherwise there was a very high probability of drawing the unwanted attention of Death-Eaters.
After all, the things he was about to do next were indeed quite provocative.
Chapter 1049