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This weekend, ABC Family is running a marathon of the Harry Potter films.

The first four films ran earlier today, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is on tonight.  Part of the marathon will rerun starting Sunday morning, beginning with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  The rest of the films will run consecutively, with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts I and II.

Consider it a nice way to relax and chase away the holiday blues.  Picking up in the middle shouldn’t be a problem:  just pretend you are playing through LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

Check your local listings or the ABC Family schedule for exact times.

According to BBC News, a group of more than 60 scholars have congregated at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to discuss the literary merits of the Harry Potter series over the next two days.

The conference, entitled "A Brand of Fictional Magic: Reading Harry Potter as Literature," will feature over 50 lectures about the series with topics ranging from the role of paganism, British national identity and how death is dealt with in the books. A complete anthology based on this conference is expected to be published in 2013.

Conference organizer, Professor John Patrick Pazdziora, had this to say about putting together such a conference:

"We can't avoid the fact that Harry Potter is the main narrative experience of an entire generation - the children who literally grew up with Harry Potter.

"The Harry Potter novels are simply the most important and influential children's books of the late-20th and early 21st Centuries."

"For very many people, this is their first experience of literature, and of literary art. So they want to think about it, and analyse it, and talk about it."

J.K. Rowling will receive the Freedom of the City of London on Tuesday, May 8 for her services to children's literature, according to a press release from the City of London.

The ceremony will take place at the Mansion House, the official residence of London's Lord Mayor. She will read aloud the Declaration of a Freeman and be presented with a framed parchment certificate.

In a statement, Ms. Rowling spoke of what the award means to her and some special perks:

“Both my parents were Londoners.  They met on a train departing from King’s Cross Station in 1964, and while neither of them ever lived in London again, both their daughters headed straight for the capital the moment that they were independent.  To me, London is packed with personal memories, but it has never lost the aura of excitement and mystery that it had during trips to see family as a child.

“I am prouder than I can say to be given the Freedom of the City, which, on top of all the known benefits (and few people realize this), entitles me to a free pint in The Leaky Cauldron and a ten Galleon voucher to spend in Diagon Alley.”

The Freedom of the City of London can be traced back to 1237. Today, people are presented with the award because it offers them a link with the historic City of London and one of its ancient traditions.

As the year draws to an end, Scholastic, US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, have a reminder for us today of the remarkable decade that was, and the amazing impact of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The sales figures are staggering, but as publisher Arthur A. Levine and VP of Scholastic reminds us, the true magic has been in the reading:

"What the numbers leave out is the singular

Next month, there will be a very large auction for a number of rare and valuable collection of children's literature including several Harry Potter novels by author J.K. Rowling. With the auction to take place on December 16th, items of note will include a rare uncorrected proof of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, plus ... Read the rest of this post

Sorting for the reading of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in our Lily and Stag Inn Reading Group forums has been opened over on the Leaky Lounge.  Our Reading Groups offer Lounge members an intimate environment in which in-depth discussions about the Harry Potters novels take place with your fellow group members.  For the Half-Blood Prince reading group, members will travel along with H... Read the rest of this post

Our two book clubs are ready to start out the month of July with two new selections for you to read and discuss with your fellow Lounge members.  First, the Jane Austen classic Emma is the next selection in our own non-Harry Potter book club: Jo's Book Nook.  With discussion open to all registered Lounge members, this book club delves into a classic novel, dissecting its characters and story, w... Read the rest of this post

Scholastic, the US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, will be releasing a new box set of the series this summer. This new collection, which you can see here in our galleries, is available for pre-order via Barnes and Noble, as well as Walmart.  Included in the collection are the set of US paperback editions of books one through seven, with the box to feature the Deluxe cover from Harry Pott... Read the rest of this post

As reported previously, an exhibition of works by artist Mary GrandPre has now opened at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in Iowa, and contains highlights of her work done for the US editions of the Harry Potter book series. Today, thanks to TLC staffer Jeff, we can now show you a sample of the many pieces of art in this display, including a first look at an alternative cover for Harry Potter and... Read the rest of this post

As TLC first reported this morning, the International Teaser Trailer for the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" film made its way online and contains an abundance of new footage from the upcoming sixth film.  The brand new trailer can be seen in our Video Galleries courtesy of TrailerAddict.com as well as on our YouTube channel.  This afternoon we have for you a mini-episode of PotterCast