Harry totally expected them to work. The idea that the universe should actually care about the way you pronounce oogely-boogely is absurd. He planned out a nice long series of experiments, and then had to scrap them after the first one falsified his theory.
I don’t think that setup completely removes expectations. There nothing you can do to get rid of expecations if you live in a magical world where they have direct effects.
If Harry did not expect them to work, that might have been enough to make them not work. Was this study double blind?
e.g. Harry should have written down two pronunciations, left the room, and let Hermione randomly choose and cast one.
Harry totally expected them to work. The idea that the universe should actually care about the way you pronounce oogely-boogely is absurd. He planned out a nice long series of experiments, and then had to scrap them after the first one falsified his theory.
I don’t think that setup completely removes expectations. There nothing you can do to get rid of expecations if you live in a magical world where they have direct effects.