The Placebo Effect and Performance

In the 2006 book Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Ron Weasly was struggling with low self-confidence. Harry then pretends to give Ron felix felicis, a potion that makes one lucky. Believing that he has taken in a dose of liquid luck, Ron performs brilliantly in the day's Quidditch match. This is a classic example of a placebo effect, an improvement in performance due to expectations or