Voodoo Doll

Everyone knew that magic wasn't real. They didn't even believe that Himiko, the Ultimate Mage, had real magic. They assumed what everyone else did, that she just tricked people. It didn't mean her skills weren't impressive. If they were right, it meant she memorized thousands of magic tricks and even created her own. Doing that and executing them through slight of hand, mis-direction, and strange contraptions was definitely an impressive feat to be proud of.

It turned out though that magic was real. It just wasn't a common thing. When someone heard about magic, they just assumed it was fake after all. So people learning actual magic never took off. Instead, they just hoped that they'd one day discover that they had an Ultimate Talent.