Cuddy says that she's only here to bring House a case, like she's done many times in the past. House thinks she has an ulterior motive -- specifically a sexual interest in someone in the room. Someone like ... "Taub," House says. Taub responds with a hilarious eyebrow raise that manages to show both surprise and interest. Cuddy says that she'll be leaving now, lest Taub get the wrong idea about her feelings for him. Meanwhile, Kumar and Hadley, start making diagnoses. Not Taub! He noticed a Christmas present on the table. The card is addressed to House. Kumar grabs it and reads: "Greg -- made me think of you." House quickly grabs the present and tosses it in the garbage, then expresses surprise that it has not detonated, like most of the things he gets in the mail. Taub takes the present out of the trash while shooting down Hadley's diagnosis of an alcohol problem. He unwraps the present to reveal a book: Manual of the Operations of Surgery by Joseph Bell. Wikipedia tells me that Joseph Bell was a Scottish doctor who was thought to be the inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes, who was thought to be the inspiration for the character of House, so this is a very appropriate and generous gift indeed. House throws it in the trash again, saying someone must be screwing with him. The Cottages are feeling particularly mutinous today, so they suggest otherwise, saying that gifts of antique medical textbooks aren't exactly gag gifts and that the writing on the note was feminine, indicating that the gift is from a female admirer. Or Wilson. I suspect he has girly handwriting. "I SAID, 'FORGET THE BOOK!'" House shouts. He changes the subject back to Natalie the patient, wondering why the other kids played that prank on her and how far they took it. Hadley saw Heathers, so she asks if House is saying the other kids slipped Natalie something.

The jazz ensemble kids have been assembled in the OR balcony, where they're interrogated by Kumar and Chase. They all seem to think they're really cool for people who are in a jazz ensemble. In my high school, kids in the chorus were not considered to be cool or particularly badass. I was not in the chorus, and that's why I was so extremely popular. The lead girl responds to the questioning by not bothering to look up from the cell phone she's txting on as she giggles that it's her fault for not stopping Natalie from "being a total pig." Chase takes the phone away from her and says that her "friend's" liver is failing, and if they don't tell him what they gave her, she could die. At this, the lead girl's assistant chickens out and urges the leader to tell the truth. Busted, she admits that they slipped Natalie some shrooms. How do you slip someone shrooms? They have a very distinctive and disgusting taste to them. So I've heard. Lead girl says they took some, too, and they're obviously in perfect health, so that couldn't have been the problem. Even so, Kumar asks if they have any left to test, and now Simon gets dragged into it because he's storing them in his locker. He's also, apparently, the class supplier and drug expert, as he says that hallucinogenic mushrooms are not the same as poisonous ones. "Not if they're not dried correctly," Chase says, even more of a drug expert.