J.K. Rowling’s screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is set in the same wizarding world as her infamous Harry Potter series, is officially in good hands. Sources are telling Variety that David Yates, the director of the last four films in Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise, is now attached to direct the upcoming film.

Rowling announced her intent to start a new franchise last September, and stated that Fantastic Beasts will act as a sort of spinoff to the Potter films, since the name comes from one of the books Harry and his friends studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Sources have confirmed to Variety that Yates is in the negotiation stage to direct the film, but no deal has been inked yet. The director, who won the 2011 BAFTA Children’s Award for Best Feature Film for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, is likely being sought after due to his experience with Rowling’s wizarding world. However, the author has stated that Fantastic Beasts, which will follow the adventures of the famed textbook’s author Newt Scamander, won’t be quite the same as the Potter films Yates directed.

“The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway,” said Rowling. “I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.”